


Rose Garden filled with Thorns

by Strangertd



Category: Glee
Genre: Light Angst, M/M, Skank Kurt Hummel, Smoking
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-03-11
Updated: 2019-10-02
Packaged: 2019-11-15 11:14:21
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 22,021
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18072380
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Strangertd/pseuds/Strangertd
Summary: Blaine is new to McKinley, and quickly finds a group of friends to call his own. However, he finds himself drawn to the mystery badboy of the group, and finds himself developing a crush. He's sure Kurt is straight. Why else would he be all over Brittany?Blaine has no clue what surprises await him.





	1. Chapter 1

 

It’s finally senior year, and Kurt Hummel is beyond thrilled. He’d spent the last 3 years drowning in fucking misery in this hell hole that Lima calls a school. His freshman year was… rough. He was tormented and thrown into dumpsters and lockers every single goddamn day, and he’d gotten enough bruises to cover an entire football field. Even with his father dating the quarterback’s mom, the most Finn ever did for him then was hold his bag while he was pushed around by the other jocks.

One day back in March of his senior year, a group of outcasts called the Skanks witnessed him being tossed into an empty dumpster by some of the puckhead hockey players, and heard the loud BANG of his head on the metal. They found it within themselves to help him out, and brought him back to their spot under the bleachers. They checked his head for any cuts and offered him a cigarette that he hesitantly took, lighting it, but never bringing it to his lips. 

There, Kurt found a home. No one fucks with the skanks, so by joining, no one fucked with Kurt.

The rest of his years were a bit easier after that. Sophomore year, people stopped pushing him around. They stopped calling him a faggot or a homo. The combat boots and black leather along with the company of the other Skanks were working like a charm. The biggest scandal of that year as far as Kurt had noticed was when the spanish teacher tried making a singing club, but after one explosive spat with Coach Sylvester, nothing ever came of it, despite one Rachel Berry’s many protests. 

That same fall, his father married Carole, and he was pushed into a nuclear style family. Admittedly, he sort of liked it. Over the year, he may have grown a bit bitter and jaded about some things, but he enjoyed having the company of someone his own age in the house, as well as a motherly figure. Him and Finn even grew sort of close. They worked long hours together at the shop, Kurt watched whatever movies Finn wanted with him, and after a while, they grew a pretty strong bond. Finn’s friends even grew to like Kurt after a few outings together, and they grew into a sort of clique. They at least gave Kurt some people other than the Skanks to hang out with. 

Junior year, Kurt really pushed his look to the next level. While in previous years he only smoked to sell the bad boy image, he eventually found himself addicted to the nicotine. His father wasn’t very proud of him for that, but Kurt’s habits were out of his control at that point. He’d tried to stop it once before, but it only sparked a huge argument between them that lasted a good week. That year, Kurt also dyed his hair with streaks of pink and purple, and found himself using the fake ID Puck had made him to go to the piercing and tattoo shop. 

He didn’t want anything that would permanently ruin his body too much, but he did get a few things here and there. Some black 12mm plugs in his ears, an eyebrow piercing, a tongue piercing, as well as a small tattoo of a blackbird along with the words “blackbird fly” in honor of his mom. Puck called him an overbearing sap then, but it was special to Kurt.

But finally, senior year is here and by May Kurt will be able to do… whatever. He hasn’t quite figured that out yet. He walks down the hall with his brother and Puck to head to their classes, AP Calculus for Kurt and Algebra 2 for the other boys. Puck is telling a story about his most recent score, but at they turn the corner, a small body collides with Kurt’s.

 

 

Blaine had no clue where the fuck he was going. It was his first day at a brand new school, and he was completely lost.

He didn’t want to change schools. Dalton had been good to him for his first three years of high school. Everyone was open and accepting of his sexuality, the classes were thorough, and he had plenty of friends among the warblers. 

Sadly, Dalton burned down over the summer. They never released exactly how it happened, but Blaine was devastated. Couldn’t that have waited two more years?

Regardless of his feelings on the matter, there was nothing Blaine could do about it. The closest public school to him was William McKinley, and Blaine was quickly enrolled into their school system. He was a bit nervous about the prospect of it all. The last time he went to a public school was in eighth grade, and he didn’t have the loveliest experience then. He’s sure this school will be better than his middle school in Columbus was, but you can never be too sure.

Anyways, he’s scouring the halls with his nose stuck in his schedule, trying to find his AP Calculus classroom. It should be in 14 B, but he has no idea where that is. He found 14 A, but there was no B in sight. Anywhere.

He has about 3 more minutes to get to class, but he wants to be early, so if he could only figure out where his damn room was. He examines his class list more, searching for any indication of location, when he suddenly collides with- something. Something that grabs onto his shoulders, making Blaine flinch back and close his eyes as a reflex.

“Hey, are you okay?” a voice asks. Blaine peeks open an eye to see a punk kid with piercing blue eyes holding onto him, backed up by two tall jocks.

“Shit, I’m sorry. I won’t do that again, I’m sorry! I’m just new here and I can’t find my classroom an-”

“Hey.” The punk kid cuts off his rambling. “Which classroom?” Blaine sighs and regains his composure.

“14 B. AP Calc with Mrs. Hice.” The jock with the mohawk smacks the punks shoulder, who glares at him in return. 

“I’ve got that class too. I’ll take you.” 

Blaine’s eyebrows shoot up, and he spits out a surprised, “ _ you?”  _ without thinking about the words coming out of his mouth.

“Yes, _me_. Just because I dress like this and am a cynical asshole, doesn’t mean I’m not smart.” He crosses his arms, looking Blaine up and down. Blaine’s pretty glad he wore his tightest jeans and most well fitting polo today- not that he wants this kid to be checking him out. Well, he kind of does. It would be cool to have another gay kid at school and this guy is particularly handsome, but Blaine isn’t going to assume anything.

“No, I get that. I’m sorry.”

“Good.” The punk kid looks him over once more and smiles. “What’s your name, bowtie?” 

“Uhm, Blaine. Anderson.” He stutters out, feeling like an absolute moron with the way these three are examining him.

“I’m Kurt Hummel. This is my brother, Finn,” he nods to the tall kid on his right, “and Noah Puckerman.” Ah. Mohawk guy. Kurt glances at the clock on the wall then nudges Finns shoulder. “We’ve got a minute to get to class. Go on, boys. Blaine, you’re with me.” The jocks- Finn and Noah- teasingly hoot and holler at Kurt, who just flips them off. “Ignore them. They’re morons.” Kurt shakes his head, but a fond smile creeps its way onto his lips. Blaine can tell he really cares for them, even when they're being dipshits.

Kurt leads Blaine up the stairs and- oh, there’s 14 B. Blaine furrows his brows as he looks at the signs on the other doors. 13 B. 15 B. “Wait, are all the B classes on the second floor?” 

Kurt nods. “Mostly. It’s mainly for the regular style classrooms, though. The arts rooms and shit are labelled differently.” Blaine shakes his head. This school really _is_ odd. He follows Kurt into the room and hesitantly takes the seat next to him. Kurt doesn’t seem to mind it or tell him to piss off though, so Blaine counts it as a victory.

 

* * *

 

Blaine spends most of class taking notes, and when it's over, Kurt directs him to his biology class before he heads to his advanced french class. There, Blaine meets Tina, who sits next to him first thing and compliments his outfit. 

“Thanks. The tie is Brooks Brothers.” 

“I love it. So, do you have a girlfriend?” Tina scoots closer, and Blaine smiles his award winning grin at her. 

“Nope. I’m gay.” Tina stays smiling, but it falters a bit. 

“Oh, well that’s nice. Let me know if anyone gives you a hard time, though. It hasn’t happened in my time here at this school, but I’ve heard that it has before.”

“Oh, so you’re a junior too?” Tina nods, and Blaine’s thrilled to be making friends so quickly. He likes Tina and would love to get to know her well enough to become close friends. 

The teacher begins class then, but Tina leans over and whispers, “Eat lunch with me and my friend Rachel today.”

 

* * *

 

Lunch time comes after one more class period, and Blaine is pleasantly surprised at how much he’s actually enjoying himself. His classes (aside from AP Calc) are easy compared to Dalton, but they're nice, and so far the people have been kind to him.

He wanders to the lot outside and looks around to see if he can spot Tina- or rachel, although he’s not really sure what she looks like aside from the fact that Tina told him she’s wearing a hideous cat sweater.

His eyes land on a familiar bit of pink hair and leather standing off in a relatively secluded corner. Kurt’s talking to a girl with long blonde hair, his hands holding hers in between them. That must be his girlfriend, Blaine thinks. Although, she looks rather upset at the moment. Kurt leans forward, kisses her forehead, then pulls her into a tight hug.

He jumps when he feels a hand on his shoulder. “Hey Blaine! Ready?” Blaine nods and follows Tina to a round table where they sit. Finn and Noah- Kurt’s brother and friend- are sitting there, and Finn’s sitting pretty cozy with a girl in- oh god, that sweater  _ is  _ hideous. That has to be Rachel. There’s another kid in a football jersey too, who waves at Blaine.

“Alright everyone. This is Blaine. Blaine, this is Sam, Rachel, Finn, and Puck.” Blaine waves, and Finn gestures at him with his fork, a noodle slipping off in the process. 

With a mouthful of food he says, “Yeah, we bumped into you earlier, didn’t we?”

“Uh, ye-”

“God, Finn. Don’t talk with your mouth full. It’s fucking gross.” Blaine’s eyes shoot to Kurt. He smiles at Blaine then sits down with the girl he was talking to earlier. Her eyes are a bit red and puffy, and she’s definitely been crying.

“Brittany, are you okay?” Tina asks, and Kurt wraps an arm around Brittany, shaking his head. 

“She’ll be fine. Just leave her be.” Puck smacks his fists on the table.

“Do you need me to go yell at-”

“No. Just leave it.” Kurt snaps, and that’s that. The table moves on to talk about different topics, being sure to include Blaine and fill him in on everything. 

From what he gathers within the 25 minutes he spends with them, Rachel is an aspiring broadway actress. She and Finn got close over the previous summer at a camp where they were both counselors, then they began dating. Sam was new last year, and he moved here from the south. Both Sam and Tina are juniors like him while everyone else is a senior Finn, Puck, and Sam all play football together while Brittany is a cheerio. Although, Kurt and Brittany were both rather quiet for the duration of the meal.

Finn must have caught Blaine staring at him, because as they’re heading to throw their trash away, he nudges Blaine. “Kurt is usually quiet at the table, unless he’s giving off some snarky comment. He’s kinda cynical sometimes and mostly likes to keep to himself. He likes to be both invisible and intimidating at this school. he thinks it's better for him.” He shrugs and pats Blaine’s back, running off to catch up with Puck.

Blaine goes through the rest of his day fairly well, but finds himself getting distracted at times by thoughts of the mysterious pink haired boy. From what he could tell, he has a pretty good home life, a well off family, and plenty of friends. What could he be hiding? Why is he so cynical? What happened with Brittany? Are they dating?

Blaine has too many questions. He  _ has  _ to be this kid’s friend.

As he’s walking out to his car in the C parking lot, Blaine catches a glimpse pink out of the corner of his eye- a common theme for the day. He sees Kurt leaned up against the side of the building, looking out at the football field across the way. He walks toward him, and as he gets closer he can see that Kurt is smoking.

“Those are bad for you.” He comments as Kurt takes a drag, standing in front of him with a cocky grin. Kurt blows out his stream of smoke onto Blaine’s face, who tries his best not to flinch.

“Oh, really? I had no clue.” He comments dryly, but Blaine chuckles anyways, earning a curious glare from Kurt. “What are you doing here?”

“I could ask you the same thing.” Blaine tilts his head at Kurt, who shrugs at him.

“I like watching the guys practice.” He says, nodding toward the guys warming up on the field. “Plus it gives me the chance to have a cigarette before work.” 

“Mm.” Blaine nods, looking back and forth between Kurt and the football field. “Okay. I’ll go now. I just wanted to say thanks for being so cool to me today. I wasn’t expecting it.”

“And what _were_ you expecting?” Blaine shrugs ang gives a lopsided grin.

“To be beaten into a pulp for being pretty obviously gay and nerdy.” Kurt’s eyebrows shoot up, and his jaw drops open. He looks a bit dirty, Blaine thinks, with his cheeks rosy and his mouth shaped into a little o. 

“You know... If anyone gives you trouble, let me know. Seriously. I have swords and a switchblade, and I know how to use them.”

“I don’t think that’s-”

“And I can fight. Finn and I have been taking classes for years.” Blaine smiles and nods.

“Okay. I’ll let you know, Kurt.”

“Promise?”

“I promise. See ya!” Blaine waves and turns, heading for his car. Kurt seemed pretty protective of him, and didn’t have an issue with him being gay at all. Hell, he said he’d protect him if anyone gave him a hard time for it.

Kurt’s still a mystery to Blaine, though. _Swords?_ Who the hell has swords- and knows how to _use_ them properly? He’s got a lot to learn about this boy...

  
  



	2. Chapter 2

 

“I have an announcement, everyone!” Rachel claps her hands to get everyones attention once the lunch table is full of its usual habitants. “It’s finally Friday, which means we have all survived the first week of school! To celebrate that, I am having a party at my house tomorrow night beginning promptly at 9, but feel free to come sooner. Attendance is mandatory...” Puck opens his mouth to interject, but Rachel points a finger at him. “... and yes, there will be alcohol.”

“It’ll be great, guys.” Finn reassures the group. “I helped plan it so, I promise there will be no karaoke or musicals or anything. Just a regular high school party.” 

Kurt scoffs and whispers into Blaine’s ear, “I wonder what he had to do for that. Rachel always has karaoke at her parties.” Blaine smiles and shrugs as Kurt goes back to picking at his food. 

Over the week, Blaine’s been making slow progress with Kurt. They haven’t really held a conversation that lasts for more than 3 minutes, but Kurt does seem to like Blaine. That, or Blaine is awful at social cues. It doesn’t help that the only time Blaine sees Kurt is in class, at lunch, or outside after school while he smokes as he watches the boys practice. 

In class he doesn’t get much of a chance to talk though, because the teacher is pretty strict about everything, but Kurt has whispered over a few insults on her outfits which are- pretty atrocious. No one should mix leopard print with stripes. No one.

Lunch is hard too, because Kurt stays relatively quiet then, unless he’s letting out a snarky comment or talking to Brittany. Even then, his table conversations with her are short, almost like he doesn’t want to expose too much of himself to the table, which makes Blaine curious. They’re his friends, aren’t they? Why is he trying so hard to hide from them? They all seem to care about him anyways.

The real times when Blaine can get in a conversation are after school. Kurt’s typically already out there and through the first few drags of his cigarette by the time Blaine even gets out there, but Blaine’s last class is also on the complete opposite side of school anyways. Blaine’s always the one to start the conversations too. One time he waited for Kurt to start, but all he got was a curious glare as Kurt huffed on his cigarette. 

Before Blaine can ever get to any serious topic though, Kurt tosses his burned out cigarette on the ground and waves over his shoulder as he walks off to his car. Blaine had followed him on Thursday. He discovered that Kurt drove a shiny black Navigator, totally not what Blaine envisioned for him. Kurt had stopped at the drivers side door and turned around with a questioning glare, accompanied with a blunt, “what?” 

“Nothing.” He had said, and Kurt climbed into his car, and drove away. That was it. Blaine went home after that. He doesn’t know why he was so obsessed with Kurt, or why he is so intent on finding out his secrets.

Except he kind of does. He knows Kurt is attractive. Anyone with eyes can see that. He knows that he’s always had a thing for mysterious older guys, and Kurt just fits the bill perfectly. He’s stunning, really. Blaine wants in. He wants to know the intimate details on what makes Kurt, Kurt. He wants to infiltrate his mind and learn how he works and why. He wants to touch and learn and be with. He wants _Kurt_.

There is, however, the issue of Kurt’s sexuality. Blaine doesn’t want to assume, or stereotype in any way. He doesn’t know enough about Kurt to judge him by. The high melodic voice gives Blaine glimmers of hope, but he knows that that’s such a stupid and stereotypical thing. Obviously voice doesn’t determine one’s sexuality.

There’s also the issue of Brittany. Blaine’s pretty sure her and Kurt are a thing. Maybe. He’s not sure, but they’re always so close. Kurt’s always holding her hand in corners of hallways and hugging her, kissing her forehead. She’s always tucked into his side at the lunch table, and Blaine’s caught him rubbing her back and kissing her temple after whispering in her ear plenty of times. She still looks down and out of it, and he doesn’t want to intrude, but… he’s beyond curious.

 

* * *

 

Blaine’s mom drops him off outside of the Berry household right at 9:35. He's a bit late, but his mother absolutely refused to let him go until he finished cleaning his room. Either way, Blaine is really excited. The fact that his mom didn’t care enough to ask whose house he was going to was a plus. Parties were strictly prohibited at Dalton, and everyone was too much of a goody two shoes to throw one anyways. Well, except Sebastian, but Blaine never wanted to go to one of his “parties.” Sebastian was always flirting and Blaine didn’t want to go into his space. 

But this is different. It’s a _real_ high school party. Of course, he had told his mother it was just a sleepover, and she made him promise to be home by noon tomorrow.

He walks up to the front door to see a sign taped to it that reads, “Don’t knock! Come inside!” He shrugs and goes on inside. There’s music faintly playing, and Blaine assumes it’s coming from the basement, the sound reverberating through the floor. There’s rows of food and drinks on the island in the kitchen, a shit ton of food, actually. Blaine sets his small backpack on the floor by the door and grabs a can of coke, not wanting to drink quite yet, and heads on through the open door to the basement.

Entering the basement, he sees that he’s the last one to arrive. Finn’s sitting on the couch, and he doesn’t look too thrilled. He must still be sober. Tina and Sam are dancing to the pounding music, Rachel is too and god- she looks insane. Puck is chugging a can of PBR in the corner, and there’s a good 5 cans on the floor around him. Blaine wonders if they’re all his, it wouldn’t really be surprising. 

Kurt is on the side of the “dance floor”, trying to get Brittany to put her shirt back on. She refuses, tossing it across the room. She wraps her arms around Kurt’s neck and starts dancing on him, and he sighs. He looks lost. He kneels down and wraps his arms around Brittany’s thighs, then hoists her up into his arms. He carries her over to where the threw her shirt, and he looks like he’s pleading. She pouts, but takes the shirt.

“BLAINE!” Suddenly, Rachel is right in front of him. “COME DANCE WITH ME!” He sets down his coke quickly before she drags him in the middle of the room and swings his arms wildly. He laughs and joins in, and suddenly Tina and Sam are joining in on their little hand held dance. Blaine dances for about an hour, he thinks, then pulls himself away to chug his drink down. He surveys the room once again.

Puck and Finn are playing video games on the TV, and Finn is winning. It helps that he’s sober and Puck is pretty inebriated after 6 beers. Blaine sometimes wonders how Noah is still alive with all the reckless shit he gets into. He scans along the room to the corner and- oh.

Kurt and Brittany are on the big chair, tongues pretty deep within one another’s mouths. Brittany looked pretty drunk earlier, but Kurt seemed pretty sober. Regardless of alcoholic impact, they’re there. Making out. Intensely. Kurt’s hands are firm on Brittany’s waist, but her hands are dragging all over his body. Up his thighs, across his chest, up under his shirt. Blaine wonders what it feels like under there. If his chest is solid and firm, or if there’s bits of soft flest there. If he’s muscular or slim or maybe he still has some baby fat. Blaine knows  _ he _ sure does, yet Kurt is older. Maybe his is gone.

Brittany starts to crawl onto Kurt’s lap, and Blaine gets sick of looking. He’s about to slink back to the dancefloor when he notices Kurt pushing Brittany off. He says something to her, then points at the group in the middle. She smiles and jumps up, running to dance with everyone. Kurt sighs and watches her or a moment, then heads up the stairs. Blaine pretended to be interested in the video game when he passed, but once Kurt is up the stairs, he gives it a moment before heading up himself.

The light to the back porch is on, and Blaine can see a puff of smoke through the glass. He makes his way out there to see Kurt sitting on top of the glass table out there, his eyes closed and head tipped back. He looks peaceful, in a way, but Blaine senses there’s something going on. Kurt opens his eyes to take another drag, startled for a moment to see Blaine watching him. As usual, he says nothing and just takes his drag.

“So…” Blaine starts, moving closer until he’s standing right next to the table, still a few feet from Kurt. “You and Brittany, huh? How long have you two been a thing?”

“We aren’t.” Kurt says on an exhale, and Blaine furrows his brows. “I mean, we used to be, back in sophomore year but it didn’t really work out. Either way, my dad kept walking in when we were making out and it got kind of annoying after a while. She’s a sweetheart, but not my type.”

“Uhm, then why were you two making out?” Blaine asks, and Kurt lets out a breathy laugh. 

“Because. She’s sad and lonely. That and kissing feels good, especially with a tongue piercing. There’s nothing there, though.” Kurt takes another drag, and Blaine looks down at the ground, deep in thought. 

This really doesn’t make any sense. He was so sure Kurt and Brittany were together. He _has_ to still have feelings for her. Why else would he be so god damn close to her? The hand holding and hugging and kissing. None of it makes sense.

“I can hear the gears turning.” Kurt’s comment pulls Blaine out of his trance.

“Yeah, sorry I just- I don’t get it. You and Brittany have been so close and I don’t… get it.” Blaine huffs out a breath in frustration. Kurt gives him a once over then pats the spot on the table next to him. Blaine climbs up and pulls his knees up to his chest.

“You can’t tell anyone what I’m about to tell you, okay?” Kurt asks, and Blaine nods sincerely. He’s finally going to hear a Kurt Hummel secret. The first of many.

“So, over the summer, Britt has been sort of involved with this other girl at our school. I won’t say her name, but I’m gonna call her satan. She led Britt on. They would always make out and have sex, and Britt genuinely thought satan liked her. The first day of school though, her and Britt had a fight. Satan told her that it all meant nothing to her, and Britt was just a warm body for her. Britt told her that she had feelings for her, and satan told her to stay away.

“Of course Britt told me about this. She was absolutely heartbroken, and after lunch on Monday I found satan and called her out. Didn’t get any answers though. She just told me to stay out of it. Either way, I think Britt will be okay. She just hates being lonely, but she’s getting better.” Kurt finishes with a long drag to his cigarette before flicking it onto the patio pavement.

“So… you don’t have feelings for her?” Blaine asks. Kurt chuckles and shakes his head.

“No, but thanks for being so concerned with my love life.” He hops off the table and starts to walk away, but he pauses and turns to Blaine. “Hey, speaking of my love life…”

“Yes?” Blaine asks, raising his brows high in question.

“Finn and Rach invited me to go see a movie with them next weekend since it’s one I’ve been wanting to see. Want to spare me the pain of being a third wheel and come along?” Blaine’s mouth drops open. 

“Uh, yeah. Sure. Um, I might need your number though, you know for uhm, address and uh, stuff.” God Blaine feels like an inept MORON. 

“Yeah, lemme see your phone.” He holds his hand out, and Blaine stumbles to retrieve his phone from his pocket. He hands it over, and Kurt types in his info, then hands it back. “I texted myself so I have yours too. I’ll send the info later. I think I’m going to head home now.”

Kurt turns around again, and Blaine stops him. “Wait, you’re leaving? It’s only 11.”

Kurt shrugs. “I’m kind of bored. Everyone besides Finn is drunk as hell, and I don’t want to be here when it gets messy.”

Blaine gulps. “Uhm, do you think I should leave then too?”

“Unless you want to see throw up and crying, I would go.” Kurt gives him a sideways grin, then heads in through the back sliding door. Blaine lets him go for a moment, then remembers.

“Wait! Kurt!” he shouts, running in after him, being sure to shut the sliding door. He runs through the kitchen and sees Kurt waiting by the front door.

“You called?” he asks, and Blaine nods.

“Yeah. My mom...”

“Oookay?” Kurt lifts a brow. Blaine watches the movement, because it’s the pierced one, and Blaine’s intrigued by his piercings. “Blaine?”

“Uhm sorry. She drove me here. Could you… take me home? It’s only like ten minutes away, I promise! I don’t want to be here when things get messy.” Blaine stammers. He looks terrified. Kurt grins.

“Hmm, I guess since I like you, I can spare you. Come on.” Blaine grabs his bag off the floor and follows Kurt to his car. He climbs in, and is pleasantly shocked. It smells really nice inside, not like cigarette at all, and it’s not dirty either. The leather is really elegant, and Kurt seems like he takes good care of it.

He directs Kurt the short drive to his house, and aside from that, the ride home is silent. When Kurt pulls in front of the house Blaine tells him to, Blaine is kind of shocked when Kurt parks the car. He looks over, and sees him staring at the house next door. The man who lives there is outside, talking to a group of men who he assumes are his friends. Blaine’s never really met that neighbor before, but he has seen the numerous prop 8 signs in his yard, including the new one he has out now. It gave Blaine a reason to not want to introduce himself.

Suddenly, Kurt’s exiting the car. A moment later, Blaine door opens. He sees Kurt standing there, looking at him expectantly. “Do you know how to get out of a car, Anderson?” Kurt asks, but contrary to his comment and tone of voice, he doesn’t _look_ annoyed.

“Sorry.” Blaine mutters, and hops out of the passenger seat. Kurt slams the car door shut behind them, and Blaine is once again shocked as Kurt walks him up to his door, eyeing the group of men as he does so. When they reach the front door, Blaine turns to Kurt, whose body shields him from view of the men.

“Uh, thanks. That really wasn’t necessary though.” Blaince chuckles nervously, but Kurt shakes his head. His face is stony and cold, his eyes a stormy grey. 

“No, I know those guys. I’d feel safer walking you up.” Blaine furrows his brows.

“How do you know them?” Blaine asks. Just when he had though he was figuring Kurt out, another mystery appears.

“They’ve come to my dads shop a few times. Everyone there knows them, how they look in detail. We have to. They’re very loud and… indignant with their beliefs. A man came into my dads shop once who was gay, and boy was it a show. They got in close to him, right in the front office while I was sitting at the desk, and ganged up on him. Pushed him around, called him a faggot. I ran to get my dad, and we had to force them out. 

“They were screaming about how horrible gay people are and how he wished he could bash his head in right there. My dad banned them from ever coming back and didn’t even charge the poor guy who got harassed in solidarity. It was… horrifying to watch. I just- they could tell from his looks, and no offence, but you don’t dress the straightest. I’d just… really prefer not to watch you get hurt.” 

Blaine smiled at him, trying to force away his blush. “Well… thank you. I’ve seen his prop 8 sign but… I never knew he was that bad. Thank you.” 

Kurt pats Blaine’s shoulder briefly. “No problem.” He stays there as Blaine unlocks his door and goes in, then waves, waiting for Blaine to close the door. He does, and watches through the side window as Kurt walks back to his car, and drives away.

Today had been a big step, and now he has a date with Kurt next weekend. Except, it’s not a date. It’s just a group outing. Finn and Rachel will be there, doing romantic things. He will be there with Kurt, not doing romantic things. So even though it is a _date_ , it’s not for him and Kurt.

 

Even if he kind of sort of wishes it was.

  
  



	3. Chapter 3

 

Thursday night, right as he’s getting into bed after a warm shower, Blaine gets a text from Kurt.

_ Tomorrow. Be at my house by 4.  _

_ Or I can take you to school + back home with me. Let me know. _

Blaine smiles at his phone and sends out his response.

**_Take me to school? I’ll pay you back for gas._ **

Blaine and Kurt had been talking at school, just about as much as they were over the first week. Kurt is just a quiet person, Blaine assumes. He can’t get over the look in his eyes at the lunch table though. He always looks like he has so much to say, like he’s holding back in fear or something. Of what, Blaine isn’t quite sure yet, but he’s hoping this not-double-date with Finn and Rachel will help him answer the question. 

_ That’s not necessary, Blaine. _

**_Are you sure? I have money._ **

_ I’m sure. I’ll pick you up at 7:20 _

**_I’ll be ready._ **

 

* * *

 

 

Sure enough, at 7:20 sharp, Kurt’s Navigator pulls into Blaine’s driveway. Blaine watches through the window as it arrives, and when he sees it pull in, he straightens his purple and pink striped bowtie (that he definitely didn’t choose just because it matches Kurt’s hair), and runs to grab his bag, double checking that he has all the correct books inside.

He opens the front door, but Kurt’s standing on the stoop, hand raised as if he was about to knock. Blaine smiles a toothy grin at him, and Kurt gives a lopsided smile back.

“I was gonna come get you.” Kurt mumbles, shrugging for seemingly no reason at all aside from a lack of any other words. Blaine shakes his head and steps out, closing the door shut and locking it.

“You don’t have to. I was about to run out to you.” Blaine shrugs, but Kurt just shakes his head, walking with Blaine back to his car. 

“I was going to be chivalrous.” Kurt deadpans. Blaine stops and stares at him with an amused face. He’s noticed that Kurt always does this, says the sweetest things in the most monotone voice like it’s nothing. Kurt notices Blaine’s paused, and looks back at him. “What?”

Blaine breaks out laughing, and walks back up alongside Kurt. “You’re just…” He sighs and shakes his head. “You’re something.” Kurt shrugs once again and hops in the driver's side of his car. Blaine puts his backpack in the backseat, then jumps in the passenger seat. Within 5 minutes, the boys are at school. Kurt just parks the car and sits there, staring at the building in front of them.

“You can go in first if you want.” Blaine blurts. Kurt just looks at him, blankly. “I mean, if that’s what you’re waiting for. I can go in first too. If you like… don’t want to be seen with the  _ gay _ kid at school.” He chuckles nervously.

“Shut up, Blaine. That’s not what- no. Stop. We can go in together, I just- I don’t know. I normally smoke on the way to school and I’m just feeling-” He pauses, trying to find the words.

“Withdrawal?” Blaine asks, and Kurt gives a combined nod/shrug. “I don’t mind if you smoke near me, Kurt.” Blaine says with a sincere look, and Kurt shrugs again.

“No, I’m just- trying to stop. Cut back until I’m fully done. The distraction and holding back around you, it’s- it’s good. For me. So don’t worry.” Kurt turns off the car and sighs, gathering himself for a moment. “Okay. We can go.”

The rest of the day is fairly normal. They walk to AP Calc together, talk a little bit at lunch- although Kurt is still just as quiet as normal, but he’s not as closed off and bunched over his food as he typically is- and then the end of the school day comes. Sure enough, Kurt is waiting in his usual spot at the bleachers, smoking what Blaine assumes is his first cigarette of the day. Blaine bounds over and smiles as Kurt notices him, flicking his burnt out cigarette on the ground. 

“Okay. We can hang out at my place if you want. We’ve got an hour before Rachel and Finn will be there. She’s making him stay after to help her in the library or something. We’re taking my car to the movie and shit so…” Kurt trails off, making a vague gesture with his hand. Blaine nods and they walk to Kurt’s car together. 

“Sure thing. You don’t work today?” Blaine asks, and Kurt shakes his head.

“Just Sunday through Wednesday. Occasionally on Thursday if I have nothing better to do with myself.” Kurt shrugs for the tenth time that day. Blaine smiles, which Kurt notices, and shoots him a confused look in return.

“You sure do shrug a lot.” Blaine comments, and Kurt lets out a small hum of thought.

“Yeah, I guess. I just don’t really talk much and it’s kind of my way of expressing the awkwardness or whatever. I don’t know.” Kurt shrugs again, as if to prove his point.

“I get it.” Blaine chuckles, gently knocking Kurt’s arm with his. “You don’t have to explain yourself. I think it’s kind of c-” 

“Hey homo!” Blaine sighs, and him and Kurt turn to see Azimio trailing behind them. “You find a new butt buddy? You know Hummel, I always thought something of you freshman year, but I thought maybe you’d have grown out of your fairy ways for the emo side or whatever this is.” Azimio gestures over his outfit, laughing to himself. Kurt rolls his eyes and gives his best bitch glare.

“Really, Azimio? You’ve left me alone for years. I haven’t done anything, and you even high fived me when I was dating Brittany. What changed?” Kurt asks, and Azimio scoffs as if it’s obvious.

“You’re hanging with the little homo so often lately, I’d assumed he’d made you his new little boyfriend.” Blaine blushes and looks at the ground. Sure Azimio had muttered the word homo at him in the halls, but he hadn’t had an straight up confrontation before.

“Oh, piss off. Forgive me for having a friend who happens to be gay, but I’m telling you now, touch him and I will see to it you lose a limb. You know I can fight, and Puck is on my side.” Kurt threatens, and Azimio just scoffs at him again.

“Alright Hummel, like you’d ever do anything like that. You’re one of the top students, no way you’d risk it.” In a flash, Kurt whips a decently sized switchblade from the front pocket of his bag, and twirls it around expertly in his hands. Azimio freezes and stares at it. 

“I’m just saying… leave him alone.” He ceases his motions with the knife and just holds it limply in his hand. Azimio nods, and walks off, fuming. Kurt closes the knife up and slips it back into his bag. Blaine is staring at him with a dropped jaw.

“Kurt, I-”

“Don’t worry. I wasn’t going to do anything with it. I wouldn’t. I just wanted to get my point across.” Kurt half smiles, and leaves Blaine behind as he walks the rest of the way to his car. It takes a moment for Blaine’s brain to catch up, but soon enough he’s running after Kurt.

 

* * *

 

The ride back was mostly silent, but Blaine’s mind was occupied. Kurt actually cares about him. A lot. Enough that he risked getting in trouble, because Blaine’s sure having a knife at school is severely against the rules. It’s really endearing when Blaine thinks about it, but it’s also kind of confusing. Azimio had said something about Kurt freshman year, before he went all punk. Blaine wonders what he looked like then, and what kind of person he was. 

Clearly it was something out there, that Azimio didn’t like. Blaine had noticed that Kurt faltered a bit at his comment about his “fairy ways”, but he hid it fairly well. Blaine didn’t want to pry now, not before their not-date, but he was definitely curious. Maybe he could ask Finn or Rachel about it sometime, try to subtly bring it up in the conversation.

They arrive at Kurt’s house, and Blaine hums in appreciation. It’s decently sized, and definitely looks like a family home. The flowerbeds out front are plentiful, and there’s another car in the driveway. They get out and Blaine brings his bag inside with him, following Kurt’s lead.

Inside, Blaine drops his bag on the floor by the door, and Kurt leads him toward the stairs, but they’re stopped by a man rushing out of the kitchen. “Kurt! Hey bud.” The boys turn to him, and he eyes Blaine carefully. “Hey, I’m Kurt’s dad, Burt.”

“Oh, uhm, I’m Blaine.” He greets, and Burt smiles at him. 

“Nice to see ya. Kurt, ya didn’t tell me you’d be havin’ anyone over.” Burt says, leaning against the wall of the living room. Kurt shrugs.

“Yeah, Blaine’s going out with me, Finn, and Rachel. So I don’t have to third wheel.” Burt nods, and the silence in the room is thick. “Okay. We’re going to hang out in my room until Finn gets back.”

“It should only be half an hour. You were leaving at 4, right?” 

“Ish.” Kurt responds, then he’s bounding up the stairs. Blaine spares a polite smile at Burt, then races after Kurt. He walks into the room Kurt’s waiting outside of, looking around. It’s not really like he expected. He assumed it would be more… dark, but it’s really light and remarkably put together. 

The bed is made, there’s a bookshelf stuffed with pictures, classic books, and some movie cases. There’s a record player on his dresser, with the name “Elizabeth” engraved in the side of it, and there’s a box of records sitting next to it. Kurt stands by the door, self consciously.

“I like your room.” Blaine comments, and Kurt smiles his crooked smile back at him.

“Thanks.” There’s another beat of silence as the two of them just stare at one another. “Uhm, we can like… watch tv or something? On my laptop? I just- don’t have much else to do. Unless you wanted to listen to music and just.. Sit and wait.” Kurt rambles, looking at Blaine hopefully.

“I’d like to look at your records. Maybe listen to some?” he asks, and Kurt nods, gesturing to the machine. Blaine walks up to it, examining the smooth leather surrounding it. Kurt sits on the bed nearby as Blaine digs through the records.

“Oh shit.” Blaine comments in awe as he pulls out a copy of the Beatles’ self titled album. “This is so cool. You’ve got lots of old stuff in here.” He pulls the record out and places it on side two, and soon enough “[Martha My Dear](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rd-0pRDigMw)” fills the room.

“Yeah, it was my moms. The Beatles were her favorite artists ever. She used to listen to them all the time.” Kurt comments, picking at a loose bit of the rip in his jeans.

“Used to?” Blaine asks, turning to face Kurt.

“Yeah. She died when I was eight so… used to. Past tense.” Kurt shrugs once more, and Blaine’s starting to see the theme with his shrugs here.

“Kurt, I-”

“Don’t say you’re sorry.” Kurt snaps, and Blaine freezes. “Sorry, it’s nothing personal, it’s just- I hate when people say that. It’s not anyone’s fault that she died, and either way, it happened almost ten years ago so. Yeah. Don’t apologize.”

Blaine sits next to him on the bed, sitting on the tops of his hands. “I’m glad you told me. Uh, if you don’t mind… When is it going to be ten years?” Blaine asks.

Kurt’s quiet for a moment, and as the song fades out he says, “October 26th.” They sit there together and just listen as “[I’m So Tired](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z8m3cRlRKv8)” fills the room. Blaine’s hoping that he’s giving off some sort of calming aura to Kurt, but he’s not too sure he believes in that.

Soon enough, that song fades out, and "[Blackbird](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Man4Xw8Xypo)" starts to play. Kurt takes in a deep shuddering breath, and Blaine looks at him. 

“What is it?” Blaine asks. Kurt just slides off his jacket and turns his body more toward Blaine. Kurt points at the tattoo on his bicep and Blaine gasps lightly.

“I got it for her… my mom.” Kurt says softly, and Blaine admires the black ink.

“Can I touch it?” Blaine asks, and Kurt nods. Blaine traces his finger along the cursive ink that spells out  _ Blackbird fly... _ , and gently strokes the silhouette of the bird. “It’s beautiful.” Blaine whispers, and Kurt smiles. Not his usual lopsided grin, but an actual smile. Blaine smiles back, then falls backwards lying on the bed. He closes his eyes, and he can feel Kurt mimicking him. The two of them lie there as the album plays, no words necessary. Just them and the music. 

Eventually, Rachel and Finn arrive, and the four of them pile into Kurt’s car as he drives them off to Breadstix. They find a booth in the back, and Blaine listens to Rachel talk for basically the whole time. After they order their food, Blaine can tell Kurt’s getting tired of hearing her talk, and he’s pretty sure Finn zoned out ages ago.

“So,” Blaine cuts in, “I’ve been out of the loop a bit. How long have you two been together?” Rachel grabs Finn’s hand and smiles.

“Just two months.” Rachel smiles, and Finn nods happily. Blaine smiles at them, and he’s genuinely happy for them. They seem to really be into each other.

“That’s so cute.” Blaine comments, and he hears Kurt’s scoff from next to him. “Come on, Kurt. Love is so cute, you have to admit!”

“Yeah, if you’re an overly hopeful dreamer.” Kurt mutters, and Blaine shakes his head, giving a look that can only be described as adoring exasperation. 

“My favorite holiday just happens to be Valentines Day.” Blaine teases, and Kurt shakes his head, but Blaine can see the smile tugging on the corner of his mouth. 

“I love that! Are you seeing anyone? Well, outside of McKinley. No one else is gay here.” Rachel chuckles, and Finn raises his eyebrows, as if to say “that’s what you think.” Blaine blushes and shakes his head.

“No, I’m not seeing anyone, but I am sort of interested in someone. Nothing’s going to come of it, though” he says, and Rachel coos at him.

“Awww Blaine! Who is it?” She asks, and Blaine shakes his head, flushing a darker shade of red. 

“No, I’m not telling. It’s just a little crush.” Blaine waves her off, but Kurt’s giving him a look that Blaine can’t quite place.

“Tell me.” Kurt says, and Blaine shakes his head. 

“No. I’m not telling anyone! Ask all you want, but I won’t spill!” 

Blaine ends up regretting that statement, because Kurt takes it as a challenge. He asks four more times over dinner. Once more before the food comes, twice as they’re eating, and once after they pay. As they’re getting out of the car and heading into the movie theatre, Kurt asks him again. Blaine once again refuses to spill. He asks once during the previews, as they’re heading back out to Kurt’s car, and again once they pull into the driveway of Kurt’s house. Blaine keeps his mouth shut.

Inside, Rachel and Finn head up to his room for a while before her curfew, so Kurt and Blaine are completely alone in the living room. They just stare at each other for a while, and Blaine sees the coy grin take over Kurt’s face, and he  _ knows _ what he’s going to say.

“So, Blaine. Tonight was fun. Thanks for coming.” Kurt says, and Blaine nods in agreement, waiting for the punch. “You’re a real gentleman. You know, I could put in a good word to you, if you tell me who you have a crush on. Because I want to know.” 

Blaine just stares at Kurt, helplessly. Blaine wants to tell him. He wants to, but he just can’t. He can’t embarrass himself like that. He can’t fuck things up. He feels his eyes start to sting, and it takes him a moment to realize he’s got a tear falling down his cheek. Kurt’s mouth gapes open, and he looks regretful.

“Oh, shit, Blaine. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to push. I’m just teasing, I- I’m sorry. You don-” Blaine just shakes his head and wipes his tear away.

“It’s not you it’s just- you don’t understand. I couldn’t tell you. It would ruin everything.” Blaine’s hands curl into fists, and he really wants to punch himself in the mouth right now. Way to be completely obvious, Blaine. Way to go. Kurt furrows his brows at him.

“What do you mean, ruin everything?” A look of realization crosses his face, and then it shifts to a face that Blaine recognizes. Fear. Kurt looks scared. Of him. More tears fill Blaine’s eyes, and he shakes his head.

“I’m sorry.” he grabs his bag from the floor and opens the front door, quickly walking down the front porch.

“Blaine!” Kurt calls after him. Blaine pauses, but doesn’t dare turn back to him.

“I’ll walk home. It’s fine.” He says, then keeps going before Kurt can do anything about it. Once he rounds the corner, he turns behind to see if Kurt’s following him. 

He’s not.

Blaine sighs and keeps going. He’s got a good hour walk home, which will give him plenty of time to grieve the loss of his best friend. He’s already dreading school on Monday. He’s terrified at the prospect of lunch. Maybe he’ll sit on the stairs by himself.

He doubts Kurt would want to be at the same table as him. God, he messed up so bad. Why does he have to be so bad with words? Always. 

Blaine finishes the walk home, and goes straight to bed. He just wants to forget today even happened.

  
  



	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is dedicated to Em and Grease <3

 

Sunday afternoon, after moping around all morning and the day before, Blaine realized that he had sort of… overreacted.

He implied to Kurt that he had a crush on him, saw Kurt put the pieces together, saw the fear in his eyes, and ran. He didn’t let Kurt say anything, though. Didn’t even let him process or react to it. He just ran. Either way, he’s sure by now that Kurt has at least processed it in his mind, and had made a promise to himself to talk to him at school.

Monday morning when he walked into AP Calc… Kurt wasn’t there. Blaine sat. He waited. Class started. Kurt came in 5 minutes late. He didn’t look at Blaine the entire time. At lunch, Kurt was late too. He slid into the seat between Finn and Puck, and didn’t say a single word, except for when he and Finn were whispering to each other. After school, Kurt wasn’t by the bleachers. His car was already gone from the parking lot.

The same thing happened on Tuesday. Then again on Wednesday.

Thursday, the same thing happened, but he made sure to run out of his last class as soon as possible when the bell rang. He made it in time to see Kurt getting into his car, cigarette lit in hand. Blaine tried to run after him, but by the time he made it to the parking lot, Kurt was pulling out of his spot and driving away.

So now he sits in his own car, ready to go home and mope, but the goddamn oil light is on. Blaine checks the sticker in the corner of his windshields and- damn. He should have gotten it changed ages ago.

He pulls out his phone and sees that the closest shop is- god dammit. _Hummel_ Tires and Lube. Blaine knows that Kurt’s working today, and although Kurt’s never told him where he works, he knows it’s for a family business and how many Hummels can there be in Lima, Ohio?

He makes his way to the shop, feeling a flurry of butterflies in his stomach. If Kurt’s there, what the hell is he going to do? Should he confront him about it? What if Kurt just runs away again? What if Kurt isn’t even there and he’s working himself up over nothing.

He pulls up to the shop, and is directed into garage 3. Some redhead is working on his car, but through the windows of the front lobby where he waits for his car to finish up, he can see Kurt. He walks out of a backroom, dressed in his coveralls, and walks toward the front lobby. Blaine’s heart races as Kurt walks through the doors. They make eye contact, holding it for what feels like minutes.

“Kurt, watch the desk, okay bud? I’ll call if I need ya.” Kurt’s dad tells him. Kurt nods and just stands there, looking at Blaine silently. Burt leaves, and then it’s just the two of them.

“Have you paid yet?” Kurt asks, and Blaine nods.

“Yeah. Your dad got me.” The silence between them feels so wrong to Blaine. He can feel the weight of it squeezing around him, and he just has to break it. “Kurt, I… can we talk?” Silence. “You’ve been avoiding me and I understand if I creeped you out but please don’t push me aw-”

“That’s not it” Kurt cuts in, voice cold and sharp. “I just- that’s not what I’m trying to do.”

“Well then what _are_ you trying to do? You haven’t been talking to me or answering any of my texts. You’ve been leaving earlier than usual just to avoid me and I don’t know. It hurts.” Blaine tilts his head at him, giving a pleading look. Kurt sighs and shakes his head.

“I’m not trying to do that. I’m just… I don’t know.” Kurt tilts his head down and away, avoiding any eye contact with Blaine.

“What are you afraid of?” Blaine asks, and Kurt lets out a breathy laugh.

“You saw right through me.” He shakes his head. “No one knows I’m gay. I mean, my parents and Finn know but, I’ve never told anyone else before, nor do I plan to. Not yet at least.” Kurt finally looks at Blaine, eyes grey and stormy.

“Why though? Why pretend to be something you aren’t?” Blaine asks.

“I’m not really pretending. I mean, I never used to like these clothes but they’ve really grown on me. The attitude is definitely real. The activities I participate in are real. Me and Brittany were real, mostly anyways. It’s not like I’m going around telling people I’m straight. I’m just… omitting information.”

“But why?” Kurt scoffs at him.

“I just don’t want to come out yet. There are some vicious people and I have better things to do than to deal with that.” Blaine furrows his brows.

“Okay... but, you know everything’s fine with me? I’m out.” Kurt shrugs.

“There are some dangerous people here, Blaine. They’re less taunting now because you aren’t _acting_ on being gay. When that happens, people can get… I don’t want you to get hurt. I’ve seen some scary homophobic things in my time. I’m not ashamed of being gay, I just… I don’t want to come out yet. Simple.”

“I’d be by your side the whole time.” Blaine offers, his face earnest.

“Blaine.” Kurt glares at him. “I’m not ready yet. Okay? Maybe through time I’ll want to come out, but right now I just don’t want to. Accept that or leave.” Kurt’s voice is thick with warning, and Blaine nods.

“I understand. I’m sorry.” Kurt looks him over then nods, and the silence hangs over them once again. “Kurt… I understand that you don’t want to come out yet. I respect that. If you wouldn’t mind, I’d love to take you out on a date. I just… really like you and would love to get to know you more intimately.”

The silence hangs in the air once again. Kurt is biting his bottom lip, and Blaine can see the wheels turning in his head as his eyes dart all over the room. Blaine just smiles at him, earnest as ever. He wants to tell Kurt to come out, that he’ll be fine if he does, but if Kurt truly doesn’t want to come out quite yet, Blaine isn’t going to force him. Finally Kurt looks at him, looks him up and down, then shrugs.

“Sure, I guess. But don’t go overboard, alright?” Kurt raises his eyebrow (the pierced one, Blaine smiles) in question, and Blaine nods.

“Right. No overboard. I’ll pick you up at 5 tomorrow?” Blaine asks, and Kurt nods.

“Fine by me.” Blaine’s grin fills his whole face, and he swears he can see Kurt’s mouth peeking into a smile, but the redhead who was working on his oil change comes in.

“Blaine? Your car is all set.” He says, and Kurt turns to look at him.

“Thanks, Henry. I’ll direct him out.” Kurt says, and Henry nods, heading back into the garage to a different dock to start working on another car. Kurt leads Blaine back to his car and helps direct him out of the garage. Before he pulls off, Blaine calls Kurt to his window.

“You’ll be ready at 5 tomorrow?” Blaine asks, and Kurt rolls his eyes.

“Yes, Blaine. I’ll be ready by 5. Now go. I have a paycheck to make.” Kurt pats the side of Blaine’s car and tilts his head toward the driveway. Blaine drives home, heart racing. Kurt said yes to a date with him. Kurt said _yes_.

 

* * *

 

Blaine was absolutely giddy all morning. When Kurt came into their calculus class, Blaine’s entire face lit up, and he stared bouncing in his seat. Kurt smirked at him and rolled his eyes, dropping into the seat next to him.

“Stop that. How much sugar did you have this morning?” Kurt asks, not even looking at Blaine. He’s trying to act annoyed, but his facade is faltering through the smile cracking through his face and his amused tone of voice.

“I had no sugar at all. Can’t I just be happy?” Blaine asks in return, and Kurt shakes his head, still trying to force back his smile.

“Mmh, whatever you say, gel head.” Kurt murmurs as the teacher walks in, already beginning to talk about their lesson for the day.

At lunch, Blaine’s excitement hasn’t faltered at all. Just 5 more hours and he’ll be heading to Kurt’s house to pick him up for their date. He still can’t believe Kurt said yes. Just yesterday he was feeling so hopeless, but now he feels unstoppable.

“What’s up with you?” Puck asks when Blaine sits at their table. “Your face is red and you look… happy.” Blaine just picks at his food with his fork.

“I am happy. That’s all.” He says, and the conversation quickly flows away as Rachel approaches the table. Blaine peers up from his food to find Kurt already looking at him. He smiles and- _oh god_ Kurt is blushing. Kurt is looking back into his food and _blushing_. Blaine’s chest flutters with pride. He made Kurt blush!

Oh god, now he’s blushing, he can feel the blood filling his cheeks. Kurt looks back up at him, cheeks still burning red, and silently laughs at Blaine. Kurt glances around the table, Blaine assumes to see if anyone’s watching them. Blaine looks too. Everyone’s too focused on their own things.

Perfect.

After school, Blaine runs and, there he is. Kurt’s in his normal spot by the bleachers once again. Kurt takes a drag of his cigarette and holds the smoke in his mouth until Blaine grows closer, tilting his head back and blowing it straight up into the air.

Blaine stands, mesmerized by the muscles moving in Kurt’s neck. Kurt snaps his head down and looks at him, amused. Blaine snaps out of his momentary distraction, definitely not thinking about Kurt’s throat muscles straining for another, super sexy reason. Not at all.

“Uhm, I’ll see you in 2 hours?” Blaine asks, and Kurt nods.

“Yes, Blaine. I’ll be ready. I won’t blow you off. But, how do I dress? Not like… formal, right?” Kurt asks, and Blaine shakes his head.

“However you see fit. You told me not to go overboard, so I’m not.” Blaine tells him, and Kurt nods.

“Good.” Blaine stands silently with Kurt, watching as he finishes his cigarette and letting his mind wander. He never really realized how longs Kurt’s legs are, but now, looking them up and down, he’s really noticing, and god is it hot. His body is slim and blocky, but Blaine can just tell that there’s muscle hiding under those layers of leather.

His mind goes back to the other day when Kurt was wearing just a tight black t-shirt. His biceps filled out the sleeves of the shirt and- oh god, Blaine please don’t get hard now. Blaine forces those thoughts out of his head, and instead chooses to admire Kurt’s hair. It looks so soft, and the pink and purple streaks through the front look exceptionally soft. Blaine wonders if Kurt has to bleach the streaks first to get such a bright color.

“You okay?” Blaine snaps out of his thoughts once again. Kurt’s looking at him expectantly, his cigarette butt now on the ground, smothered into the dirt.

“Yeah. ‘M fine.” Blaine nods, and Kurt smiles, rolling his eyes. They walk to the parking lot together, which is mostly empty since it’s a Friday afternoon and everyone is anxious to get home quickly. Kurt stops next to Blaine’s car, his hands jammed in his pockets.

“So… 2 hours.” Kurt says, and Blaine nods.

“2 hours.”

“Okay… Don’t be late.”

“I won’t.”

“And don’t think you’re paying.” Before Blaine can protest, Kurt cuts him off with, “I’ll pay for my half this time. Okay?” Blaine just nods. Kurt said this time. They haven’t even gone on their first date and Kurt’s already implied that there will be more. They stare at each other awkwardly for a few more moments.

“Okay well, I’m going to go now.” Kurt pats Blaine’s shoulder and gives his little half smile, then walks over to his own car. Blaine melts in place, and it takes a few seconds for him to force himself into the car.

Tonight is going to be rough, he can feel it.

 

* * *

 

A 5 o’clock sharp, Blaine is knocking on the front door of the Hummel Hudson household. He had showered and changed his clothes when he had gotten home, opting for slightly less gel than usual and a neater outfit: black boat shoes, white skinny jeans that hugged his ass, and a black and red striped sweater.

Finn opens the door and smiles at Blaine. “Hey dude! Kurt told me you’d be here around five. I’m waiting for Rachel myself, we’re supposed to be going out to-”

“Finn, leave him alone.” Kurt pushes Finn aside and shakes his head, but Blaine can tell the annoyance is fake. “Go back to the living room, and if you see Dad, tell him I’ve left.” Kurt steps outside next to Blaine and shuts the door behind him. “Sorry.”

“Don’t be,” Blaine says, eyes practically sparkling. “You look great,” Blaine says, and he does. His [shirt](https://ae01.alicdn.com/kf/HTB1UjJyXH9YBuNjy0Fgq6AxcXXaA/Summer-Shirt-Men-Korean-2018-Designer-Slim-Fit-Tuxedo-Shirt-Dress-Half-Sleeve-Patchwork-Color-Hairstylist.jpg_640x640.jpg) fit tight across his body, and looked incredible with his grey skinny jeans and black leather knee high boots. “Uh, let’s go.”

Blaine runs ahead and opens the car door for Kurt, who rolls his eyes, but smiles and hops in. Blaine gets into the driver’s seat and, wow he’s so nervous. The drive is fairly silent, with Kurt just staring out the window for the majority of the trip. When they park, Kurt hums as he looks at where they are.

“Bostons?” He asks, and Blaine grins. It's his favorite italian place in Lima, with no offense to Breadstix.

“You said no overboard. This place is good, and not usually crawling with people from school.” Kurt nods his head and hops out of the car, Blaine following suit. They’re led to the table that Blaine had reserved, a booth in the back corner. It’s fairly well secluded, and has incredibly soft, and romantic lighting.

They let out small talk about school and such as they look through the menus, deciding what they’d like. Once their orders have been taken, they just look at each other, silently. Blaine’s noticed that this is something Kurt does. He sits, and stares, like he’s examining Blaine, trying to read his thoughts, or maybe it’s in admiration. Blaine greatly wishes he could read Kurt’s thoughts.

“You look good too.” Kurt blurts, and Blaine’s confused for a moment before he remembers.

“Oh, thank you.” He rests his hand over his face, partially to hide the blush. Kurt just grins at him.

“It’s particularly easy to turn you into a bashful schoolboy, Blaine.” Kurt says, and Blaine shakes his head, trying to push the blush away.

“Well, I saw you blushing at lunch today so… there.” Blaine sticks his tongue out at Kurt, who _laughs_ loud and clear. Kurt covers his mouth and shakes his head.

“Sorry, just- you are… too cute.” He murmurs into his hand, a blush rising on his cheeks. Oh, this is going to be fun.

“Oh, am I? I mean, I guess I can be kind of cute sometimes,” Blaine shrugs, “but it’s really not my fault that I’m on a date with a really really hot guy. I mean, who can blame me?” Blaine grins, and Kurt just hides his face in his hands.

“God, you are the _worst_. Remind me why I agreed to this?” Kurt asks, voice muffled through his palms.

“Because,” Blaine grins, “you like me.” Kurt snaps his head up at him and narrows his eyes in challenge.

“I never said that.” Blaine shrugs.

“You don’t have to. You agreed to a date with me, and you were blushing at me at lunch, and just a few seconds ago. That must mean that you at least like me a little bit.” Blaine challenges.

“How do you know I didn’t just agree to this date for free food?” Kurt asks.

“Because you told me today that you’re paying for your half, and that I shouldn’t even think to pay for you.”

“Damn,” Kurt shakes his head. “Past me really screwed future me over, huh?”

“You’re still not denying liking me.” Blaine teases, but Kurt is saved by their food arriving. They eat in silence, mainly because the food is spectacular, much better than Breadstix. Blaine offers Kurt some of his fettuccine alfredo and Kurt _moans_ at the flavor, causing Blaine to have to cross his legs just a bit tighter. Kurt in turn offers Blaine some of his lasagna, which is just as delicious.

They finish their food around the same time, and spend minutes just talking about how great it was. The bills comes, and Kurt snatches it up first. He pulls out his wallet and slips a $20 in there, then politely hands it to Blaine, who’s shaking his head at Kurt.

“So immature.” Blaine accuses, and Kurt grins.

“No, just making sure you don’t pay for me.” Kurt responds coyly, and Blaine smiles, making sure he gives the waitress exact change, plus a $5 on the table for tip, so she doesn’t have to return.

“I guess so.” he sets the bill aside, and the waitress takes it quickly. They fall into an easy silence once again, just staring at one another. Blaine can’t help but feel an overwhelming amount of joy. Kurt, who is usually so somber and quiet, has opened up immensely to him during the past hour and a half. He’s been smiling and laughing and joking with Blaine, and it feels amazing. The only other person he’s ever seen Kurt come remotely close to being like this with is Finn, and even that’s a stretch.

He hears Kurt give a deep sigh, and focuses back on him. Kurt’s reaching his hand across the table, leaving it palm up in the middle of the table, as an offer. Blaine grins and slides his hand on top of Kurt’s, relishing in the warmth as Kurt squeezes his fingers around Blaine’s.

“This has got to be… the best date I’ve been on.” Kurt says, blushing and looking down softly at their hands. “I mean, I’ve only ever been on dates with Britt and they were, well, just us making out. That's fun and all but, this was just… i don’t really have words. No one’s ever made me feel as… um, good? As you do… I just-”

“Kurt?! Blaine?! Hey!” Kurt snatches his hand back at the sound of Rachel’s voice. She bounds over to their table, grin filling her face, oblivious to the boys embarrassment. “What are you guys doing here?”

“We just, um-” Blaine stutters, and Finn comes running up behind Rachel.

“Rach, you can’t run off like that.” He looks at the boys and nods. “Hey dudes. How’s it going?” Blaine looks across at Kurt and he can already tell he’s fuming. He had broken down Kurt’s walls and began to pull him out of hiding, and now he’s locked himself back up again.

“Hey Finn, we’re good. We were just-”

“Studying. Talking about Calculus.” Kurt blurts out, his eyes still trained on the table. “Just homework talk.” Finn nods, and Rachel smiles.

“Nice, well can we join you? We can’t talk about calculus but we can-”

“Blaine and I were just leaving.” Kurt interrupts, finally looking up at Blaine. “Right?” He asks, and Blaine nods.

“Yeah, sorry Rach. Maybe next time.” Blaine offers, but Kurt is already out of the booth and walking toward the exit. Blaine hurries out of the booth and quickly walks after Kurt. They get into his car, and it’s silent. Blaine looks at Kurt, trying to find the words to say, but is coming up empty. “Uh, do you want to-”

“Just take me home, please.” Kurt says, arms crossed in front of him, and Blaine complies. The ride back to Kurt’s house is once again silent, and Blaine can hear the gears turning in Kurt’s head. They pull into the driveway and Kurt sighs.

“God, I need a cigarette.” He sits in Blaine’s car for a moment, then finally gets out. Blaine waits for a moment, then cuts the engine and follows Kurt out. He follows Kurt through the fence to his backyard, then sit next to him on the patio chair as Kurt pulls out a cigarette and his lighter. They’re quiet, just sitting in silence as Kurt smokes.

“I’m sorry.” Kurt says softly, and Blaine looks at him with soft eyes.

“That’s the third time you’ve apologized to me tonight.” Blaine says, and Kurt’s quiet. “You don’t have to be sorry.” Kurt shakes his head.

“I do. I was a bit of an asshole.” Blaine chuckles.

“You _are_ an asshole. It’s fine.”

“No.” Kurt takes a drag, and blows it out away from Blaine, then tosses the butt on the concrete, stamping it out with his boot. “I’m an asshole to other people. I don’t want to be an asshole to you.”

Blaine just stares at him. “Why not?”

“You know why.” Kurt says quietly, giving Blaine an earnest look. Blaine smiles softly.

“You like me.” Blaine says, and Kurt just hums in response. “You can’t say it though. You can’t admit it, or say it out loud.” Kurt shrugs.

“Perhaps.” Blaine’s smiles falls, but he tries to hide it. Kurt stands up, looking down at Blaine. Blaine stands, and Kurt leads him back around the house to his car.

“I’ll see you Monday.” Kurt says, and Blaine nods.

“Yeah… Monday.” They stare at each other for a bit, then Kurt steps forward, and wraps his arms around Blaine’s shoulders. Blaine melts into the hug, and holds onto Kurt’s back. They stand there for a minute, just holding each other and breathing each other in, before Kurt pulls back.

“Okay. Bye Blaine.”

“Bye Kurt.” Kurt nods and walks toward his house. "Wait, Kurt!" He turns and looks at Blaine.

"Yes?"

"You've told me you liked me before." Kurt furrows his brows at him.

"Have not."

"Yes you have. Leaving Rachel's party, you said you'd take me home because you like me." Kurt looks down confused for a moment, then smiles, looking back up at Blaine.

"You've got me, Anderson." Kurt shakes his head, grin still filling his face. "Night, Blaine." He waves, and they part ways for real this time.

The night didn’t go the way he had planned it, but laying in his bed preparing to sleep, Blaine isn’t upset. He knows Kurt will take some work. He isn’t easily trusting. He’s a mystery, and he likes it that way. Blaine’s willing to crash through all of Kurt’s walls, no matter how much effort it takes.

He knows, deep down, that Kurt is worth it.

 

* * *

 

[Spotify ](https://open.spotify.com/user/cosmictrash13/playlist/1YaxprLmCZxUI7bj1VjumR?si=h_DQt_SVREiPX2wg9eOR6Q)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've created a Spotify playlist that I'll add to for every song used in this pic, just if you ever want to listen!
> 
> Click the Spotify hyperlink embedded above in the pic or just search the name of the fic on Spotify if that link doesn't work out!


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's been a minute, but I'm finally back! Big things have been happening in my life, including exams, and moving, plus starting up two jobs, so I'm a pretty busy guy. I'm finally back though! I've been itching to update this fic and I've got some nice ideas so... stay tuned ;)
> 
> Don't forget that I've got a Spotify playlist for this fic going! It's saved under the same title of this work, and I have the hyperlink in the top of the text!!

[Spotify playlist](https://open.spotify.com/user/cosmictrash13/playlist/1YaxprLmCZxUI7bj1VjumR?si=h_DQt_SVREiPX2wg9eOR6Q)

 

Monday morning is eerily silent, like something out of a horror movie, and Blaine’s got no idea why. Kurt isn’t in class that morning, and Blaine’s heart pains just a little bit. He wonders if he’d left their date off on a bad note, but looking back, things had gone pretty well. There was one slip up when Rachel came bounding over, but other than that, the date was amazing.

At lunchtime, Blaine sees everyone- including Kurt- talking in what seems like panic at the table. He heads over, sitting across from Kurt, and tries to listen in, but everyone is talking at once.

“Hey!” Blaine cuts in, and everyone shuts up. “What’s going on?”

“You haven’t heard?” Tina asks.

“Of course he hasn’t, that’s why he’s asking.” Kurt comments, rolling his eyes. 

“You know that super prestigious private school in Bellefontaine that only accepts like 40 students?” Rachel asks, and Blaine nods. He’d heard a little bit about it from one of the boys at Dalton who had transferred from there, but he didn’t know much. “Well apparently one of the administrators got into some huge scandal, and sent the school into bankruptcy!”

“So apparently a bunch of the kids from there are going to be transferring here.” Sam says, shaking his head. 

“But why is everyone panicking? I transferred here from a private school.” Blaine asks, and Kurt scoffs.

“You’re not like them, Blaine. Trust me. They’re maniacs. Insanely sheltered. Incredibly bigoted. One of the kids? His dad is your neighbor. He was in the shop the day of the attack, cheering for his dad. When we called the cops to get them escorted out, the kid told me he wished his dad had killed the man. I don’t feel comfortable about this at all. He’s only going to bring trouble. Azimio is a harmless little worm compared to these kids.” Kurt huffs angrily, staring intensely at Blaine as he talks.

Blaine thinks it’s incredibly hot.

“Well, maybe Blaine will be okay.” Tina offers, “They don’t know he’s gay.” 

This time it’s Blaine who scoffs. “Tina, they’ll take one look at me and know. I mean, that’s how it was for the guy who got attacked at the tire shop, wasn’t it?” Blaine turns to Kurt, who’s just staring back at him in return, eyes dark and stormy.

“I don’t feel good about them coming here…” Kurt finally looks back down at his food. If Kurt feels this uneasy, then so does Blaine.

 

* * *

 

After school, Blaine meets Kurt on the side of the school. This time, Blaine doesn’t start up a conversation. He just waits. He can’t stop thinking about what Kurt had said at lunch. He knew his neighbor had a son, but he looked so nice from a distance. They’d never interacted though, and now Blaine’s glad they haven’t. 

“Blaine…” He shakes himself out of his thoughts to see Kurt looking at him with soft, sincere eyes. His cigarette is already stomped out, Blaine hadn’t even realized.

“Kurt, I-”

“I’m really worried. His family has a bad track record and if he was really wanting his father to  _ kill _ a gay man, then I just- I don’t want you to be alone… I don’t want anything bad to happen to you.” Kurt looks so distressed, and Blaine can feel his heart tearing up, unable to decide if it wants to sink or soar. On the one hand, Kurt looks so upset, and Blaine hates seeing him look like that. On the other hand, Kurt’s worried about  _ him _ and his safety. It’s incredibly endearing.

“I know, Kurt. I’d be lying if I said i wasn’t a bit worried too, but… I trust you. You said you’d do everything in your power to make sure I’ll be okay, and I believe you.” Kurt sighs, giving Blaine a worried grin. 

“Are you sure you want to do that?” Blaine nods.

“I’m sure.” There’s silence for a moment afterward, but Blaine’s grown comfortable in their silences. He’s come to learn that it’s just something that happens with Kurt. Eventually, Kurt speaks up again.

“Be ready at 9 tonight. Wear casual clothes that you wouldn’t mind potentially getting a bit dirty.” Kurt starts to walk away, but Blaine chases him, walking next to him as he heads to the parking lot.

“Why?”

“‘Cause, I want to take you out.”

“Like a date?” Blaine aks, his cheeks flushing red.

“Yeah. So… 9 tonight.” Kurt stops at his car, then looks back at Blaine. “Okay?”

“Okay.” Blaine nods. 

Then Kurt gets in his car, and drives away, leaving Blaine bewildered. Date number two, with Kurt Hummel… tonight.

 

* * *

 

Promptly at 9, Blaine's waiting right next to his front door when he hears a knock. He opens the door quickly, startling Kurt.

“Sorry! I just didn’t want my mom to answer!” Blaine apologizes. Kurt just shakes his head. 

“It’s ok. Let’s go.” They get into Kurt’s car and drive about 20 minutes out of town, through cornfields and cattle farms, until they come up to a wooded area. Kurt turns down a dirt road and eventually pulls into a vacant lot of dirt, with a single dirt path leading into the trees. After silently walking for about 5 minutes, they come to a little clearing, and Blaine gasps.

Set up in the clearing is a large blanket, with a nest of blankets and pillows on top of it, surrounded by fairy lights. There’s a bluetooth speaker sitting on the dirt nearby, and Blaine’s heart is leaping about his chest.

“Kurt… this is the most romantic thing I have ever seen…” Kurt blushes and shrugs. 

“I figured we could just listen to music, watch the stars, and maybe… lay down or something…” He trails off, a bit embarrassed, but Blaine can barely contain himself.

“I would love that.” Blaine smiles, and Kurt gives him another genuine smile. Blaine’s really starting to love seeing those. 

Blaine gets comfortable in the nest of blankets, staring up at the night sky while Kurt sets up the speaker. A [song](https://youtu.be/HiTVLVEFEMc) starts to play softly in the background, then Kurt lays next to Blaine, leaving a solid 3 inches between them, their knuckles brushing.

“What song is this?” Blaine whispers.

“Ooh La La by Faces.” Kurt’s hand turns slightly, still brushing against his own.

“Mmm… I like it.” Blaine grabs Kurt’s hand.

“Mmm.” Kurt squeezes his hand in return. They lay there for what feels like hours, songs keeping them company as they stare up at the sky. 

Eventually, despite all the blankets, Blaine starts to get cold. He scoots closer to Kurt and rests his head on his shoulder, shivering into him and trying to absorb his warmth.

“You cold?” Kurt asks, and Blaine nods. “We should head back anyways. It’s a school night.”

They pack everything up, Blaine carrying the speaker, two blankets, and lights, while Kurt has the 4 pillows and 2 blankets. They shove everything into the back, and Blaine shivers hard enough that he drops a blanket on the ground. Kurt picks it up for him, then takes off his black denim jacket and holds it out for Blaine. Blaine blushes, but accepts, sliding the jacket on. It’s a tad too big, but it’s warm and smells like Kurt.

They head back to Lima, and get Blaine back home by 10:43pm. Kurt walks Blaine to his door, and they just stare at each other for awhile until Blaine sighs.

“I should get in now…”

“Yeah…” Kurt trails off, looking like he’s studying every bit of Blaine’s face. He snaps out of it, then nods again. “Right. It’s a school night. Um… see you tomorrow.” Kurt turns to walk away, but Blaine grabs his hand, stopping him.

Kurt turns back, and Blaine hugs him, nuzzling his face into Kurt’s neck and grabbing on tight to Kurt’s back. Kurt sighs and hugs Blaine back, rubbing his hands along Blaine’s shoulders. Kurt kisses Blaine’s cheek gently, then pulls back. 

“I like you, Kurt…” Blaine says, looking sincerely at Kurt, trying to convey as much emotion as he can.

Kurt just gives him a simple smile and says, “I like you too.” With another kiss to his forehead, Kurt’s walking back to his car, leaving Blaine on cloud nine.

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's short today :) next time!


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finally back with another chapter! God I lost motivation for a while and I'm working 2 jobs so I don't have much free time but it is GOOD to be back!!!!!
> 
> Don't forget the Spotify playlist of all the songs used!!!

[SPOTIFY](https://open.spotify.com/user/cosmictrash13/playlist/1YaxprLmCZxUI7bj1VjumR?si=h_DQt_SVREiPX2wg9eOR6Q)

  
  


Tuesday morning Blaine really didn’t want to get out of bed. He’d had the hardest time falling asleep last night-- he couldn't stop replaying his date with Kurt over and over in his head. In the morning, just as he was getting ready to walk out of his bedroom, he noticed Kurt’s black jacket lying on the floor. Kurt had never asked for it back, and Blaine had forgotten he was even wearing it. Shrugging to himself, he slid it on and headed to school. 

 

* * *

 

Kurt comes into class a few minutes late, but he looks good. He’s wearing a black t-shirt with the sleeves rolled up so that it’s closer to a tank top length, and Blaine can’t stop staring at his arms. They get the last few minutes of class to talk or get started on their homework for the night, and before Blaine can even look his way, Kurt’s sliding closer, smirking at him.

“Distracted, Anderson?” He asks, giving a sultry smile. Blaine bushes and looks down, anywhere but at Kurt.

“Not my fault.” Blaine mutters, and Kurt laughs, the melodic sound filling Blaine’s ears and making his heart flutter. “Uhm, by the way, do you want your jacket back?”

Kurt looks Blaine up and down, then smiles. “Nope. Not yet at least. It looks nice on you, especially with the white polo and black bowtie. Very nice.” Blaine tries not to blush, but he’s having a hard time.

“You also look very nice today. Very nice. I never see your arms. They’re always covered. They’re… thick.” Blaine mentally smacks himself. He’s been schmoozing adults for  _ years _ with maximum levels of confidence, but apparently it just takes  _ one _ cute boy to throw all of that completely out the window.

“Yeah, I could tell by the way you stared at them all class. Did you even take any notes?” Kurt teases, and Blaine fondly rolls his eyes, trying to play along and not get too flustered.

“Yes I did, smartass. I’m very good at multitasking.”

“We’ll see about that.” Kurt mutters, and before Blaine can ask, the bell rings and Kurt shoots out of the room. Blaine walks to his bio class and takes a seat, his mind trying desperately to figure out what the  _ hell  _ Kurt was talking about. 

He didn’t notice anything out of sorts at all, aside from them having a substitute teacher. She handed out a worksheet and told the class that she didn’t mind them talking as long as they weren’t too rowdy- which was good enough for Blaine. He and Finn decided to work together, but it was mostly Blaine doing the work and Finn copying off of him. As a senior, Finn shouldn’t even be in this class, but he’d failed last time, and Blaine really didn’t want him to have to repeat his senior year, so he helped out when he could. 

Once they finished their papers and turned them in, they sat down to talk, but they’d only gotten 4 words into their conversation when a rolled up ball of paper hit Blaine’s head. He looked around to see who threw it, and that’s when he noticed something was off.

Sitting down the aisle from him was a fairly tall kid with black hair and green eyes. He was staring at Blaine- looking between him and the paper. Blaine pulled the paper apart and frowned. 

“What does it say?” Finn asked, and Blaine just wordlessly handed it over to him. “Fag… Oh.”

“Yeah,  _ oh _ .” Blaine grunted. 

“That’s the new kid we were talking about yesterday. I heard his name is Dane.”

“Are you talking about me?” The kid-- Dane-- was standing right above them now.

“Uh, yeah” Finn said. “Just wondering why you felt the need to throw this over here.” He shrugged, and Dane laughed.

“Cuz it’s obvious. This kid is a fag. A princess. A queer. He takes it up th-”

“Thank you, I know what being gay is.” Blaine snaps, and Dane sneers at him.

“Are you admitting to it, then?” he asks, and Blaine shrugs.

“So what if I am? There’s nothing you can do that’s going to stop it.” Blaine rolls his eyes, trying to put on a facade of confidence.

“We’ll see about that.” Dane chuckles and walks away, and Blaine’s haunted by the deja vu of his earlier interaction with Kurt.

Through his next class, he’s even more distracted than he was in his first. Dane didn’t seem all that harmful, all bark and no bite, but Kurt seems to think otherwise, and Blaine trusts Kurt. When he gets to lunch, everyone is there except for Kurt and Brittany. 

Once he sits, he can see them in the distance. Kurt is hugging Brittany and it looks like she’s crying again. He grabs her face in his hands, plants a soft peck on her lips, then pats her shoulder as she runs in the direction of the restrooms. Kurt stands there for a moment shaking his head before heading to the table, and Blaine quickly snaps his attention to his food, though he’s not feeling very hungry.

It takes a few minutes, but eventually Kurt’s switching places with Rachel and sliding in next to Blaine. He teasingly nudges Blaine with his elbow, trying to get him to engage, but Blaine just shakes his head. The day’s only half over and Blaine’s already sick of it.

“Hey… what’s wrong?” Kurt asks. Blaine sighs, trying to find the words, but Finn’s beat him to it. 

“That  _ asshole _ is in our class. Dane whatever-his-name is, son of that dumbass guy who’s banned from the shop. He threw a paper at Blaine that said ‘fag’ on it then came up to us and called him a bunch of names. Then Blaine was like ‘there’s nothing you can do to change me’ and Dane said ‘we’ll see about that’ and he just seems like a  _ major _ asshole.” Finn lets out in one breath, chunks of hamburger still in his mouth. Kurt snaps his head to Blaine, giving a concerned look.

“Blaine, why didn’t you tell me?” Blaine just shrugs.

“Dunno.” Kurt sighs and shakes his head.

“Meet me after school. You’re coming over and we’re talking- whether you want to or not. Okay?” Kurt asks, and Blaine nods. After that, lunch is fairly quiet. Blaine picks at his food while Kurt scarfs his own down, and Blaine can feel the anger radiating off of Kurt. It’s hot and Blaine wants to feel something  _ more _ about it like he normally would, but right now he’s just feeling bummed out. Kurt taps his shoulder and leans in close, intoxicating Blaine with the smell of cigarettes and cologne. 

“Please eat, Blaine…” He whispers, voice bone-achingly deep and caring. Blaine can’t say no to that voice, so he gets down as much of his food as he can before lunch is over.

 

* * *

 

After school, as they always do, Blaine stands next to Kurt silently as he smokes. Blaine doesn’t attempt to start a conversation. Once Kurt's finished, he pats Blaine’s shoulder and they head out to the parking lot. Blaine’s not really paying attention to anything except Kurt’s feet where his eyes are focused as they walk- until they abruptly turn and suddenly Blaine is being pulled sharply toward Kurt. He trips, falling into Kurt’s chest, who holds him tight. He finally zones back into what’s happening and hears Kurt yelling.

“You fucking asshole! You almost hit him in the head with that goddamn rock! You could have knocked him out!” Woah, is that what happened? Blaine can’t really see anything except for Kurt’s chest, and he doesn’t want to pull away quite yet, so he just grabs on tight to Kurt and listens in.

“Come on, it’s just a joke! What do you care anyways? Is he your little fairy princess  _ boyfriend _ ?” That’s Dane’s voice, Blaine recognizes it. 

“He’s not my boyfriend, but he doesn’t have to be for me to not want him to get a fucking concussion! Get the fuck out of here!” Kurt shouts. Blaine’s heart sinks. RIght. Kurt’s  _ not  _ his boyfriend. 

“Dude, didn’t you see Kurt making out with that cheerio today? He’s no homo.” That’s a voice Blaine doesn’t recognize at all.

“We weren't making- I said  _ get out of here _ !” Kurt shouts once more, then Blaine hears a few voices of laughter fade away. Once they’re gone, Kurt pulls Blaine away from his chest. His face is red and angry. Blaine just stares blankly at him. “You okay?” Kurt asks. Blaine shrugs.

“I kinda zoned out. I didn’t even notice him throwing anything.” Blaine says, and Kurt sighs.

“Come on. Let’s go.” Kurt says, and they go to their respective cars so that Blaine can follow Kurt to his house.

* * *

 

Kurt hardly gives him time to follow as he storms inside, kicks his shoes off, then stomps up to his room, Blaine straggling behind him and waving a polite hello to Burt. Once Blaine gets into Kurt’s room, Kurt shuts the door behind them, flops face-first into his bed, and yells. Blaine watches him for a moment, then does the same thing. After a minute of just lying there, Blaine hears Kurt turn his head to face him, so he turns his own head to look back at Kurt, who’s still fuming.

“Can I play a song to cool down and then we can talk? There are… a lot of things to cover.” Blaine nods, and Kurt slides off the bed. Blaine turns onto his back and stares at the ceiling while Kurt fiddles around with his bluetooth speakers. Eventually, a [song](https://youtu.be/OCOdm3g-sBw) fills the room and Kurt flops back onto his bed next to Blaine, closing his eyes and absorbing the music.

Once it’s over, Kurt picks up his phone and turns the music off. Blaine sits up and looks down at him. “What song was that?”

Kurt sighs and sits up. “It was Metal Now by Say Anything.” He stares at Blaine for a moment, shifting uncomfortably. “So uh, are you okay?”

“Not really.”

“Do you have anything you want me to do?” Kurt asks, and Blaine bites his lip. 

“Just, answer one question… Is there actually anything going on with you and Brittany? Because you told me there wasn’t but you kissed her today and then-”

“Blaine” Kurt interrupts. “I promise that there’s nothing with Brit and I. yes, I kissed her but it was just… I didn’t mean anything about it, okay? She was having issues with her ex and she was watching us so I kissed her to show off or whatever then brittany when to wipe her makeup. Looking back, I- it was stupid but i promise. I don’t like her in that way. I’m not going to kiss her anymore.” Blaine nods. “Anything else?”

Blaine wants to ask why they aren’t boyfriends when they’ve gone on countless dates with each other, but then Blaine realizes that they’re actually very countable. Two dates. Two.

“No. Nothing else. Thank you for defending me with Dane, though. If it weren’t for you I probably would have gotten nailed in the head.” Kurt sighs and shakes his head. 

“Jesus, that really makes me angry. I- Blaine, I don’t know how I feel about you going to and from school alone anymore… I feel like, I don’t know, like he could use you being his neighbor at his advantage.” 

Blaine nods. He’d never paid much attention to his neighbors, mostly because the houses are fairly far apart and the hedges are high enough that there are only a few places where you can actually see the other person’s yard. That, and Blaine had always kept himself preoccupied enough that he never really sought after many neighbors in the time he lived in his house. In his whole neighborhood he only knows one woman, and has barely even seen most of the others. It’s kind of sad when he thinks about it... 

“ _ Blaine _ !”

“Huh?”

“I asked if it would be okay if I took you to and from school from now on.”

“Oh. Uhm, yeah. I guess, but wouldn’t that be out of your way?”

“Only by ten minutes. I don’t mind.” Kurt shrugs.

“Okay then… Sure.”

“Cool. Anything else?” Kurt asks. Blaine ponders for a moment, then shakes his head.

“No, but can we listen to music for a little bit before I head home? My mom’s making chili for dinner and I  _ really _ love her chili.” Kurt chuckles and nods.

“Sure thing, B” He grins, then turns his[ music](https://youtu.be/q3gnxO8bUxQ)  back on and they listen, just enjoying the sound and each other's company. 

 

* * *

 

Finally 5 o’clock rolls around and Blaine mentions that he should head home. Kurt turns off the music and walks with him to his front door, standing by as he puts his shoes on. Kurt opens the door for Blaine, ignoring his father’s watchful eyes as he shuts it behind them. Blaine walks to his car, mindful of Kurt following him, then stops right outside his drivers side door and stares at Kurt, who simply stares back in return.

“Thanks again for, you know, keeping me from getting a rock to the skull.” Kurt shrugs.

“It was a fairly small rock, but it still would have really really hurt. But of course, Blaine, I…” Kurt hesitates, eyes darting around before falling back on Blaine, “I care about you and I don’t want you to get hurt. Besides, I don’t want that  _ asshole _ touching you, because if he  _ does _ then we’re going to have serious  _ problems _ .” Kurt’s starting to fume again. Blaine just smiles and touches Kurt’s arm (oh god he almost forgot how bulky they are, although he’s never really  _ touched _ them until now), rubbing it in what he hopes is a soothing manner.

“What would I ever do without you.” Blaine mocks, but part of him  _ really  _ means it.

“Have a concussion.” Kurt jokes, giving his shy little half smile that he always does when he’s trying (and failing) to be aloof. They stand there staring at each other- a common trend of theirs- while Blaine just rubs his arm for what has probably been too long, but Blaine doesn’t care and Kurt hasn’t told him to stop, and he  _ really _ hopes that someday he gets the chance to touch Kurt’s muscles and skin more.

“I have to go…” Blaine snaps out of it, and he really  _ should _ be going. 

“Right.” Kurt says. It's quiet again for a moment, then Blaine falls forward against Kurt’s chest, wrapping his arms around Kurt’s neck in a hug. It takes a second, but soon Kurt’s hugging back, his hands running up and down Blaines back. They pull away and look at each other. Blaine can feel a blush creeping up on his cheeks. He isn’t used to being looked at this much- and so intensely. 

Kurt leans forward abruptly, but stops short of Blaine’s lips, stuttering for a moment before he plants a kiss on Blaine’s cheek instead. Blaine’s about to do something,  _ anything _ to get Kurt’s lips on his, but Kurt’s pulling away and taking a step back, and it’s too late.

“So… 7 tomorrow. Be ready.” Blaine nods. “Bye Blaine.”

“Bye Kurt.”

He gets in his car, and Kurt watches him drive away.

  
  



	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Feedback is greatly appreciated! I know it's been a while but we're back!
> 
> Don't forget about the Spotify playlist!

 

 

[SPOTIFY](https://open.spotify.com/user/cosmictrash13/playlist/1YaxprLmCZxUI7bj1VjumR?si=h_DQt_SVREiPX2wg9eOR6Q)

* * *

 

When Blaine pulls into his driveway, he holds his breath as a group of boys catch his gaze. It’s Dane along with some of his friends, Blaine assumes from his old school. They haven’t spotted Blaine yet, but they’re standing in the front yard. If Blaine gets out, they’ll definitely see him through the clearing in the hedges. He doesn’t want another rock-throwing incident, so Blaine just slumps in the front seat and waits. He debates texting Kurt, but after a minute, they finally go inside Dane’s house. 

Blaine sighs and makes a run for his own front door. When he gets to his room, he decides that he may as well text Kurt, just to let him know. That and…. Kurt makes Blaine feel safe… protected.

_ I’m home safe. Dane and his friends were outside but they didn’t see me. _

He hits send and about an hour later, halfway into his math homework, his phone pings with a response.

_ Good. 7 tomorrow. Don’t forget. _

* * *

The next morning, Blaine’s ready and waiting by his front door by 6:57 am. He watches as Dane gets into his car and drives away next door, and not a minute later, Kurt’s pulling into his driveway. Blaine’s wearing Kurt’s black jacket again, over a red polo and black bowtie with bright red jeans. 

When he gets into the car, he almost chokes saying hello. He thought yesterday’s shirt was bad enough, but today Kurt’s wearing a  _ tank top _ . A white one, mixed with dark grey jeans rolled up at the ankles above his jet black vans. Kurt just smiles and backs out of the driveway. Blaine shakes his head.  _ The bastard is getting off on making me a flustered mess. _

They get to school and Kurt pulls on his varsity jacket. “I wouldn’t want to be a distraction to anyone,” he teases. Blaine rolls his eyes and jokingly shoves Kurt’s arm as they walk with each other to calculus. They spend most of the class passing a single piece of paper back and forth.

It started with Kurt sliding over a sheet of paper with the words  _ I’m bored _ on it. Blaine added a doodle of a little spider and wrote a speech bubble with it saying  _ Oh no!! _ Kurt snorted at that, and they kept adding things back and forth until they had a sheet full of drawings of bugs and faces and anything in between. When the bell rings, Blaine’s face falls. Not only does he have to leave Kurt, he has to face Dane.

“Come on,” Kurt says. “I’ll walk you to class.” Blaine smiles gratefully and walks with Kurt to his bio class, leaning close to him as Kurt pushes his way through the throngs of students. They stop at the door of Blaine’s classroom. Kurt reassuringly rubs Blaine’s arm, miming the exact motions Blaine had done to him last night.

“You’ll be fine. Text me or ask Finn or Tina if you need anything.” Blaine smiles, and is about to respond when a body shoves between them to get through the door -- even though they weren’t anywhere close to blocking the door. Kurt’s not surprised when Dane turns to them and rolls his eyes, and he glares at him in return. Blaine sighs, and Kurt squeezes his arm one last time. “Go get ‘em, tiger.” 

He grins, and Blaine fondly rolls his eyes, forcing himself to head into the classroom. Luckily, Finn always saves him a seat next to him, and Blaine’s thankful that today Finn’s placed his seat between Dane and Blaine, almost like a wall to shield him. With Tina on his other side, Blaine feels secure.

Biology passes without a hitch, and Blaine gets hopeful that maybe Dane won’t bother him anymore, but at lunchtime he realizes that he’s sadly mistaken. The first 15 minutes is fine. He sits between Kurt and Puck, and spends most of his time chatting with Rachel about their shared government class. 

Then, out of nowhere, a slice of cherry pie splats onto the table, sending globs of cherry everywhere- including on Kurt, Blaine, Puck, Rachel, and Finn’s clothing. Dane appears seconds later, laughing as he leaves his table of other transfer students.

“I didn’t know if you preferred cherry or peach, then my buddy told me that fags prefer cherry.” Kurt shoots out of his seat and slams his hands on the table.

“Dane, I swear I will beat your ass if you don’t shut the hell up and leave us the  _ fuck _ alone!” Kurt growls, and Blaine instinctively slides closer to his radiating anger.

“You and what fuckin’ army?” Dane laughs, and Puck shoots out of his seat as well.

“Me, asshole, and all of our jock friends. I’m not afraid to go back to juvie.” Puck spits at him. Finn stands then as well, getting up close to Dane, towering a solid foot over him. 

“You’re a tiny guy, Dane. Stocky, sure, but I could still pick your ass up and drop kick it across the yard. Even Blaine’s got an inch on you and he’s small. I’d back off if I were you.” Finn taunts, voice low and menacing.

Dane scoffs and backs up. “Fine. Fag’s got friends. Next time I’ll bring mine, too.” He stalks off to his own table and the boys sit back down.

“God, he’s annoying.” Finn says, and Kurt nods, fuming. Blaine exhales a breath he didn’t know he was holding. He feels a hand slither onto his back, rubbing him in small circles just underneath Kurt’s jacket. Blaine smiles when he realizes it’s Kurt’s hand. He scoots closer then, until their thighs are touching seam to seam. 

Blaine feels safe and comfortable there, with Kurt so close and rubbing his back soothingly. Maybe things won’t be so bad-- as long as Kurt stays near him, that is. 

* * *

“Can you stay over today?”

“No.” Blaine pouts at Kurt’s response. He was really hoping to be able to spend more time with him, especially after everything that happened over lunch. Kurt frowns. “Sorry, tiger. I have to work tonight. I’ve been skipping out lately and I need the paychecks, plus Dad needs my help.” 

“I understand” Blaine says, still pouting. Kurt pulls into Blaine’s driveway and puts the car in park. “Can we hang out tomorrow at least?” Blaine asks, and Kurt barks out a laugh.

“Tomorrow’s fine.” 

“Can we make it a date? My treat.” Blaine begs, pulling out his irresistible puppy-dog eyes. 

“Hmmm” Kurt taps his chin, exaggerating a pondering look. “I suppose if you’re paying…. Sure. It’s a date.” Blaine bounces in the seat and smiles from cheek to cheek. “Now get out of my car. I have to go.”

“See you tomorrow!” Blaine hops out of the car and runs to his front door, waving goodbye to Kurt before heading inside. He knows by now that Kurt won’t leave unless he’s inside. 

Once he gets to his room, he squeals and falls back onto his bed. Kurt has agreed to a  _ third _ date! That, and he’s finally opening up to Blaine. He’s touching him more and acting much less reserved than he used to. He’s uncovering more about Kurt’s past and gaining his trust.

Blaine is on cloud 9 all night.

* * *

Unfortunately, cloud nine bursts by the next day.

Thursday follows the same trend as Wednesday had. Silent stares in biology and food (this time it was a half eaten apple) tossed to their table at the very beginning of lunch. Only Rachel and Tina were with Blaine at the time, so when Dane stalked over with two of his buffoon friends, they were helpless. Dane’s goons were tall and stocky. Not quite as tall as Finn, but close to Kurt’s height, which definitely made them bigger than Blaine and the girls. 

“Hey princess. I got you an apple. I promise it’s not poison… this time.” Dane taunts, making Blaine roll his eyes. 

“That’s really the best you’ve got? I would have expected better of a fellow private school boy.” Blaine comments, staring up at the boys. Dane shakes his head.

“No way. A fairy like you couldn’t get into a prep school like that.” Blaine chuckles and Dane’s denial.

“Yeah. I went to Dalton Academy until it burned down.” 

Dane and his goons cackle loudly, like evil warlocks. “No  _ wonder _ you’re such a fag! You went to the gayest prep school in all of Ohio! Were you a singing dick gargler too?” 

Blaine huffs. “Yes, actually. I  _ was _ a Warbler. Thanks for asking.” The boys keep laughing at Blaine’s annoyance. 

Dane leans down close to Blaine’s face and whispers, “I’m going to make you wish you were inside of Dalton when it was burning to ashes. I’m going to make you regret ever s-” A blur crosses Blaine’s face, and suddenly Dane is gone.

Puck has him pinned to the ground, twisting his arm tightly behind his back. Finn and Sam and shoving the other boys away while Kurt stands in front of Blaine.

“How many times do I have to tell you to stay the  _ fuck _ away from him?” Kurt asks as Puckerman twists Dane’s arm tighter while Sam and Finn tighten their holds on the other boys’ arms. Kurt stalks over to Dane and crouches down, turning his head with his hand so they make eye contact. “Don’t. Touch. Blaine. Don’t come  _ near _ Blaine. DOn’t even  _ look  _ at him. Do I make myself clear?”

“Or else what?” Dane spats, and Kurt chuckles. 

“Or else next time we won’t go easy on you.” Kurt stands up and crosses his arms. “Run along now, doll.” Kurt smirks as Puck and the boys let them go.

“Fuck you, Hummel.” Dane grunts out, walking away.

“You wish, baby.” Kurt teases, rolling his eyes as the morons retreat. When he turns back to Blaine, he’s blushing.

“Thanks…” Blaine mumbles. Kurt sits next to him and rubs his back.

“Of course, Blaine. I told you we’d have your back if anyone tried anything.” Blaine smiles at Kurt’s sincerity. The rest of lunch is quiet, although Rachel tries to lighten the mood by discussing her recent musical obsession. 

Blaine is silent for the rest of the day. He’s lost his enthusiasm. That it, until the end of the day when he sees Kurt waiting for him and remembers about their date. His pace picks up then, and he happily trots over to the spot beside the bleachers.

“Hey, tiger.” Kurt purrs before taking a final drag of his cigarette. “Where am I taking us?” He asks on his exhale, flicking the burnt out butt onto the ground.

“Do you know where La Creperie des Artistes is?” Blaine asks, and Kurt perks up. 

“Yeah. About a 30 minute drive from here. Also kind of expensive…” Kurt trails off, unsure if Blaine’s willing to spend $20 just for a single (but spectacular) dish. Blaine just smiles and nods.

“Yup! Let’s go!” He grabs Kurt’s wrist and drags him to the car, Kurt trying his hardest not to blush and look like a fool.

At the restaurant, Blaine gets them seated next to a beautiful mural of The Avenue des Champs-Élysées. They order their food quickly- a parmesan infused crepe with avocado, sharp cheddar, broccoli, tomato, asparagus, and spinach for Kurt, and for Blaine, a cinnamon infused crepe with apple, brie, and honey.

As they wait, Blaine notices how much Kurt is admiring the murals and decor on the walls. He figured Kurt would enjoy it, seeing as he was in AP French class, but he can see the awe in his face.

“You like french culture, I take it?” Blaine asks, and Kurt shrugs, his face turning a crimson red. “I like it too! I think it’s cool. I don’t know any of the language but, this place is almost like a piece of France in Ohio. It’s cool.” 

Kurt just nods, and it’s silent until their food comes out a few minutes later. They scarf their food down, although Blaine leaves one bite left and offers it to Kurt.

“Uh, ok.” Kurt shrugs and scoops the piece onto his fork. He moans at the flavor. “God I should have gone with something less savory. Want my last bite?” 

Blaine nods and stabs the piece, inspecting it before he puts it in his mouth. He gasps at the flavor. “This is good! I didn’t expect it to be…” It’s quiet for another moment, and when the bill comes, Kurt makes no move to grab it. Blaine smiles. He finally gets to pay for Kurt. 

Once they’re all set, Kurt drives Blaine back to his house. The drive is still silent, but Blaine knows by now that this is just how it is with Kurt sometimes. He’ll withdraw, and he just needs some time to work through whatever’s going on in his mind before he’ll talk about it.

“Come inside?” Blaine asks when they pull into his driveway. Kurt glances over to Dane’s house and sees a handful of cars in the driveway. He nods and follows Blaine inside.

“We can watch a movie if you want.” Blaine offers when they get to his room, closing the door behind them as Kurt sits on his bed. “I have a pretty solid collection. I even ha-”

“My mom…” Kurt interjects, and Blaine freezes, turning to face Kurt. 

“What about your mom?” Blaine asks, sitting on the edge of the bed, facing Kurt to show that he’s listening intently.

“She was French- and I don’t mean that quarter french bullshit. She was born in France in 1962. She moved to America in her 20s for school. She met my dad in college while she was studying to be a Kindergarten teacher.” Kurt smiles softly, while Blaine stares at him in awe.

“That’s so cool. Where at? Have you been there? Ooh! Is that why you know French so well?” Blaine scoots up to sit on his knees, content to hear Kurt talk.

“My mom was born and raised in Pelousey, a small town north of Lyon and close to the swiss border. I’ve never been, but I would love to someday. I still have family out there. Aunts, uncles, cousins. We don’t really talk much, but I’d love to just… experience it there. My mom always promised to take me when I was 13, but…” he trails off and shrugs.

“So she taught you the language?” Blaine asks, and Kurt nods.

“Yeah. I basically grew up speaking both French and English, although I kept to English most of the time just because my dad has always had a problem understanding French. I’m fairly fluent though, so I’ve kind of been cheating in taking so many French classes. It’s just an easy A for me, and it comes in handy. My teacher knows and she doesn’t really care.” 

Blaine just smiles at Kurt. Another puzzle piece has just been revealed to him, and this one is big. It really helps him understand Kurt better. He;s got such a connection to his mother, and knowing that there’s such a huge nationality tie that holds them together is… amazing to Blaine. Then, he remembers something.

“Did you and your mom listen to French music together too? Like… French covers of the Beatles or some actual artists from there?” Kurt nods.

“Yeah. We listened to Stromae a lot. Maître Gims and Celine Dion too. Oh, and a dangerous amount of Édith Piaf.”

“Play me something…” Blaine asks, and Kurt pulls out his phone. Blaine lays back and closes his eyes, waiting for the music to play. A melody fills the room, and he feels Kurt lay next to him.

“This song is called  [ Tous les mêmes ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CAMWdvo71ls) by Stromae. The music video is cool if you ever watch it. The song is about typical remarks women make of men and the actions they make, and the video shows Stromae split down the middle- male and female on each side, and he splits between the two during it all. It’s cool.” Kurt stops talking then so that Blaine can listen. He doesn’t understand the words, but the energy and vibes from the song that pound through his chest are enough.

“What did the chorus mean? Rendez-vous uh.. A la pro chere demain?” Blaine asks, and Kurt chuckles.

“Rendez-vous au prochain règlement, rendez-vous sûrement aux prochaines règles. It basically means We’ve set the date for our next argument. We’ve set the date around that time of the month- so like, menstruation.” Blaine’s eyes widen.

“Oh… so not a happy song.” Kurt chuckles.

“No. Not really.” Blaine nods, pondering for a moment. He’s glad Kurt’s sharing this part of his life with him. It’s exciting to be able to enjoy it with him. 

“Do you still want to watch a movie?” Blaine asks, and Kurt nods.

“You pick.” He says, sliding off the bed. Kurt takes his letterman jacket off, and damn, Blaine forgot he was wearing a tank top. So much for focusing on a movie. Blaine shrugs the black jacket of Kurt’s that he was wearing off and puts on a movie- Kill Bill Volume 1 - a  guilty pleasure of Blaine’s. 

Blaine turns off the lights and the boys lean against the headboard to watch the movie. Blaine slides as close to Kurt as he can, their legs touching all the way down the seam. Their arms are squished together for a solid 4 minutes before Kurt rolls his eyes and intertwines their arms, holding Blaine’s hand.

Halfway through the movie, Blaine gasps as an important fact pops into his head.

“Kurt,” he whispers. “Do you have a sword like Uma Thurman?” Kurt barks out a laugh at that.

“No. I have sai swords. The kind that Raphael the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle has. I adored him as a kid and I begged my parents to get me some. I got them for christmas and I broke a lot of stuff when I learned how to use them, but I’m pretty good at it now.” Blaine smiles and leans against Kurt’s shoulder.

“Promise me you’ll show me sometime?” Blaine asks.

“I promise.” Kurt whispers, softly kissing the top of Blaine’s head. They watch the rest of the movie in silence, and when it ends, Blaine is up in an instant.

“Follow me!” he says, and waits until Kurt’s standing before leading him down the hall, into a room that Kurt suspects is an office, and out the french doors. There is a balcony, with flower pots filled with marigolds and a gorgeous view of the sun setting over the far off houses in the neighborhood. 

“It’s so pretty.” Kurt says softly, leaning against the railing. 

“I figured we could watch the sunset together. I mean, it’s already mostly there, but…” Blaine trails off, blushing as he leans next to Kurt on the railing. Kurt grins. 

“No, it’s perfect. But I can think of something just a bit better.”

“What?” Blaine asks, turning to face him. Kurt just looks down at him, smiling. He grabs Blaine’s right hand with his left, and uses his right hand to crawl up Blaine’s arm, neck, then cup his face to tilt it toward him.

Blaine’s breath hitches, and before he knows it, Kurt’s lips are on his. They stay just like that for a moment, frozen in place as Kurt hold’s Blaine’s face against his. He pulls away then, blushing, and Blaine just stares up at him in awe.

“I-” Kurt doesn’t get a chance to get his sentence out before Blaine is grabbing his waist and crashing their lips together once again. This time, Kurt nips at Blaine’s bottom lip and teases his tongue across the seam of his lips, and that sets off what turns into a solid 10 minutes of making out.

Kurt turns them so that Blaine’s leaning back against the railing, his hands roaming Kurt’s waist and back while Kurt just pets Blaine’s face and hair, giving soft tugs here and there to move his head right where he wants it.

They’re interrupted by Kurt’s phone ringing. He grunts and answers it with a harsh, “What?” 

His eyes widen then, and Blaine can only listen to his half of the conversation. “Sorry Dad. No, I’m fine. I promise. Okay. Alright. Alright, fine. I’ll be home soon, then. Okay? Love you. Bye.” He hangs up and sighs. 

“You have to leave?” Blaine asks, and Kurt nods, a sad smile on his face.

“Yeah. But I’ll still be here to pick you up tomorrow. Maybe then you can come to my house after school. Okay?” Blaine nods. Kurt grins and pulls Blaine close again, reconnecting their lips.

“Do your homework.” Kurt says breathlessly as he pulls back, before pressing his lips back onto Blaine’s, following that pattern with other demands.

“Shower before bed, stinky.” Kiss.

“Don’t stay up too late.” Kiss.

“Don’t forget to be ready by 7 tomorrow.” Kiss.

“Okay, I’m going to leave now.” Kiss.

“Bye.” One last kiss, and Kurt’s going back through the french doors. Blaine tries to follow, but it takes him a while to move his legs. He runs after Kurt then, catching him just before he gets to the front door. He smashes their lips together one last time, trying to give him something to hold onto until they see each other again.

“Bye Kurt.” He smiles then, and Kurt smirks at him before heading out. Blaine watches him leave through the front window before he goes back to his room to scream into his pillow. Kurt  _ kissed _ him. A lot! They kissed a  _ lot _ ! 

Blaine turns to his side then, and notices something. The black jacket he’s been wearing lately is gone, and Kurt’s letterman jacket is in its place. Blaine smiles dopily, then. Kurt  _ wants _ him to wear his jacket. The one that brandishes his Last name and old football number on it from when he played football with his brother.

Kurt wants everyone to know what’s his. Blaine shoves his face back into his pillow. Friday is going to be spectacular.

What they didn’t see, however, were the eyes watching them on the balcony from a neighboring yard. 

Friday was definitely going to be a treat.

  
  



	8. Chapter 8

“I thought you didn’t want to come out yet.” Blaine says as soon as he opens his front door. Kurt just stares blankly at him.

“Well good morning to you too, Blaine.” Kurt rolls his eyes fondly.

“You told me you didn’t want to come out yet, but you switched jackets on me.” Blaine grins, pulling Kurt’s letterman jacket tight around him. He’s wearing a black polo and white jeans underneath- he wants the jacket to be pulling all the focus, especially the last name Hummel stitched on the back. 

Kurt shrugs and softly grins at Blaine. “You make me brave.”

Blaine’s mouth drops open, then he shoots forward to hug Kurt, who snorts out a laugh. Kurt hugs back, pressing a gentle kiss against Blaie’s temple.

“Come on. Let’s get to school.” Kurt grins, then turns and walks away, leaving Blaine to follow. He stays a few feet back, though. Kurt really is hot as hell, especially today. He’s got leather jeans on. Leather. Jeans. They hug his ass and his…  _ package  _ very well. He’s got a white tee on with the sleeves rolled up to tank top length. He knows that’s Blaine’s weakness. 

The morning is quiet and serene. Blaine doesn’t think anything of it. At lunch, Dane doesn’t come to their table to harass him. Hell, Dane’s table is empty, so Blaine isn’t worried at all. He takes it upon himself to lean against Kurt’s side, pressing their bodies together as tight as possible.

“Blaine did you join football? I love the jacket.” Brittany grins at Blaine, and everyone turns to look at him. They hadn’t registered anything odd with Blaine wearing a varsity jacket until they realized that Blaine doesn’t do any sports.

“Oh, it’s uhhh-”

“It’s mine. I gave it to him.” Kurt cuts in.

“Why?” Rachel asks, furrowing her brows at them. Kurt just shrugs back in return.

“Why not?” A short awkward silence ensues before Finn starts a new conversation. Kurt silently thanks him. When the lunch bell rings, Kurt stands up and puts Blaine’s empty tray away along with his own, then walks him to his next class, stopping him before he walks in.

“I’ll meet you after school, okay? You can stay the night this weekend if you want to? Uh, my dad is going to be out of town with Carole for her cousins wedding and Finn is staying at Rachel’s so…” Blaine’s face lights up.

“Yes please. I don’t have any clothes but-”

“It’s fine. Borrow mine.” Blaine’s face flushes. He really  _ really  _ loves wearing Kurt’s clothes.

“Okay.”

* * *

After his AP History class, Kurt tries to leave the room as quick as he can, but his teacher stops him and asks him to discuss an answer he gave on their assignment. Mr. Hanson tells him just how much he adored the in-depth answer, but Kurt really can’t find it in himself to be proud. He just wants to get out of class and see Blaine. He’s respectful, though, and kept quiet while the teacher spoke. After a few minutes, he’s finally free to go. 

“Fucking finally…” He mutters, turning the corner, but he freezes in his tracks. The door he usually takes that opens right out to the field is blocked off with caution tape. He rolls his eyes. Of course he has to take the long way around now. At least the hallways are mostly empty. Kids always rush to get out on a Friday.

Blaine walks out of the front doors of the school to find that Kurt isn’t out yet. He hums and walks over to Kurt’s typical spot and waits, watching the football players as they practice for Saturday’s game. He sees Finn wave at him from the field, and he waves back, watching him as he runs through drills. He keeps a close eye on the time on his phone. Kurt’s usually never late. He wonders if maybe he could be waiti-

_ OW Fuck! _

A sharp pain shoots against Blaine’s chest. He looks down and sees a decently sized rock sitting at his feet. His brain registers that someone threw a fucking  _ rock _ at him, and then he looks ahead and- oh fuck.

“Hey princess. Where’s Kurt at? Sure hope he’s not hung up or anything.” Dane grins maliciously as he approaches Blaine. 

“He’s.. he’s coming! He’ll be here any second.” Blaine responds, but even he’s not sure where Kurt is or what’s taking him so long.

“I doubt that…  You need to pay, Blaine. I saw you two fags the other day. Kissing on your stupid fucking balcony. ALL my friends saw, too. Fucking gross, dude. Completely ruined our night.” Blaine’s breaths are pushing in and out of him a mile a minute and he feels like his heart is going to beat out of his chest. His feet are frozen to their spot on the ground, and he’s lost. He has no idea what to do or say. He wishes he knew where Kurt was… and then Dane moves at him.

* * *

Before he can make it to the front doors, two kids step out in front of Kurt, blocking his way. He rolls his eyes dramatically. 

“Is this really necessary?” Kurt asks, trying to make the annoyance very clear in his voice. He’s got a dapper boy to get to, and he really doesn’t have time for conversation.

“It is, Kurt. I was just wondering how you sleep at night.” The boy on the left asks. Kurt furrows his brows at him.

“What the fuck is that supposed to mean?” The boy on the right with greasy black hair laughs, elbowing the other one’s arm before speaking.

“We asked around. We heard a lot about you. Apparently your freshman year here, you dressed pretty well. You were very clearly gay. With all the outfits and fashion and girly qualities. Are we right?” Kurt just stares at them, but his heart is quickening its pace. When he doesn’t answer, the blond on the left starts speaking again. 

“That’s what I thought. I don’t know what you did, but you’re a filthy liar. You run around this fucking school acting all macho and straight, even kissing that one cheerio, but we know your dirty little secret. You and that Blaine kid are fucking. We know it. We saw you slobber on him on his balcony last night.” 

Kurt feels like his heart’s just shit itself. He recognizes these fuckheads now. They’re the ones who are always following Dane like a lost puppy. “Fuck, it looked like you were banging him right there. You make us sick, but Dane…”

Dane. Kurt’s mind starts racing. Where’s Dane? If he’s not here then he must be… “oh he’s even more sickened by it. You better-” 

“Shut the FUCK up!” Kurt shouts and shoves past the boys. One grabs his arm and the other gets ahold of the back of his shirt, pulling him back. 

“Aw look, he’s worried about his little boyfriend. How sweet. Dane just wants to talk to him.” The blond coos. Kurt gathers as much saliva in his mouth as he can and spits it at him.

“Fuck you. Fuck you so much. You’re horrible. If you’re going to hurt someone, hurt me. Leave Blaine out of this. I’m the one who kissed him first.” Kurt pleads, but the boys only laugh. Kurt lifts his leg and kicks the blond away, freeing himself from his grasp. With both arms free, he turns and shoves the greasy against the wall and makes a run for the front doors. Those guys might be bigger, but Kurt’s faster.

* * *

Blaine’s on the ground before he can even react to Dane shoving him. He feels a swift kick to his side and malicious laughter. Why can’t he bring himself to fight back? He was in Dalton Fight Club for God’s sake.  _ Why. _ He just stares up at Dane, rooted to the ground, completely unaware of anything around him except for Dane.

“That fucking show you put on last night… you’re such a whore. All you fags are. You don’t care where you are, you’ll just put on a show.”

“We were at my house! I thought we were private!” Blaine shuts up when Dane kicks him square in the back, forcinging him onto his side. 

“Bullshit! You knew what the fuck you were doing!” Blaine closes his eyes in anticipation for another blow.

“Dane you sack of shit!” Blaine’s eyes immediately shoot back open at the sound of Kurt’s voice. Kurt’s hair is messy, but he’s running toward them. 

“Fuck.” Dane mutters, and he tries to steady himself, but Kurt tackles him to the ground anyways. 

“You sack of shit! You set me up!” Kurt shouts, struggling to get a hold of Dane’s hands to keep control of the situation. “You knew you couldn’t go after Blaine if i was here, you little SHIT!” 

Blaine looks around and sees Dane’s friends running over, but with a glance to the football field, he sees Sam, Finn, and Puck running over too. He smiles and crawls over to help Kurt, grabbing Dane’s wrists and holding them to the ground. Kurt smirks at Blaine before turning back down to Dane.

“Get this through your thick and empty head. You can’t stop me from kissing Blaine. You can’t stop Blaine from being gay. You can’t stop  _ anyone _ from being gay. Just like you can’t stop us from holding you down.” Kurt looks up at the sounds of grunting to see Finn and Sam blocking Dane’s goons from getting close. 

“Kurt, Beiste is coming.” Puck warns. “Let me handle this fuck. If you get in trouble your grades are ruined. I’ll finish this off.” 

“Puck, I can do this.” Kurt argues, and Dane’s still struggling underneath him.

“I know you can, but I don’t want you to get suspended. We’ll cover this, dude. Just go home. We’ll keep you updated.” Kurt’s about to argue, but then he sees Blaine’s pout, and the only image replaying in his head is of Dane kicking him while he’s down.

“Fine.” Kurt grunts, then quickly climbs off Dane and leave’s Puck to finish things off. He grabs Blaine’s hand, makes sure they both have their bags, then pulls him to the parking lot before Beiste can come and suspend them all. Puck was right, it would ruin their report cards. He hates running away from the fight, but he really just wants to take care of Blaine. 

They get into the car and Kurt drives away. It’s mostly silent. Blaine’s still a bit freaked out and Kurt’s processing. Blaine can tell he’s processing hard, but he’s mostly just glad Kurt and his friends were so quick to their defence. He also doesn’t really like the idea of leaving the fight that was about him to begin with, but Blaine also doesn’t want to be suspended. He just wants Kurt to hold him.

As soon as Blaine gets out of Kurt’s car, he’s pulled into a hug. He sighs and holds Kurt close, burying his face against Kurt’s neck.

“Blaine, god…” Kurt pulls away and holds Blaine’s face in his hands while Blaine grips Kurt’s waist. “Are you okay? How many times did he hit you? How long?” 

“I’m fine… My back hurts but, I don’t think he did anything legit to it. I’ll probably be bruised for a while. He only shoved me and kicked me twice. He only had me for like… 40 seconds before you and the others came.” Kurt lets out a shaky sigh and holds Blaine close again. 

“Come on… let’s go inside. I want to check out your back but, I think we just need to watch a movie and order takeout and just sleep.” Blaine sighs and hugs Kurt tighter.

“Please.”   
  
  



End file.
